Flowering and fruiting period: July – February

Distribution: India and Sri Lanka

Habitat: Cultivated

Uses: Young shoots edible when cooked. The plant contains high levels of silica and is used in many ways in Ayurvedic medicine. Root is used to treat joint pain and general debility. Leaves are taken internally to stimulate menstruation and to help relieve period pain, they are also taken to tone and strengthen stomach function; to expel worms and have the reputation of being aphrodisiac. The juice of the plant is rich in silica and is taken internally to aid in the strengthening of cartilage in conditions such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. The stems have a huge range of applications, to make items as diverse as scaffolding, rafts, furniture, paper and dozens of other items.

Key Characters: Culms from a thick stoloniferous rhizome, erect, up to 30 m tall; culm sheaths broadly triangular, densely brownish-hairy within, and scattered hairy without. Leaves up to 20 cm long, linear, glabrous; ligule short, entire; petiole short. Inflorescence a compound panicle with the spikelets in heads. Spikelets 1-many flowered, oblong, terete. Bracts glume-like. Glumes 1-3, broadly ovate, mucronate.