Kans grass

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Kans grass
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Monocots (unranked): Commelinids Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Genus: Saccharum Species: S. spontaneum
Binomial name
Saccharum spontaneum

Kans grass (Saccharum spontaneum) is a grass native to south Asia. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading rhizomatous roots.

In the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands, a lowland ecoregion at the base of the Himalaya range in Nepal, India and Bhutan, Kans grass quickly colonises exposed silt plains created each year by the retreating monsoon floods, forming almost pure stands on the lowest portions of the floodplain. Kans grasslands are an important habitat for the Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis). In Nepal, Kans grass is harvested to thatch roofs or fence vegetable gardens.

Elsewhere, Kans grass' ability to quickly colonize disturbed soil has allowed it to become an invasive species that takes over croplands and pasturelands.

Saccharum spontaneum has a considerable number of regional names in South Asia, for instance 'Kash' being common in Bengali. Some of these are given, along with Ayurvedic medical properties by Pankaj Oudhia (2001-3)

References