Saccharum spontaneum L.

 
  • Family : POACEAE
    (Grass Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : GHAS FAMILY (घास फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Poaceae
  • Synonym(s) : Imperata spontanea (L.) P.Beauv.; Saccharifera spontanea (L.) Stokes; Saccharum spontaneum subsp. indicum Hack.
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Saccharum spontaneum L.
  • Common name : Thatch grass, Wild sugar cane, Kans Grass
  • Vernacular name :
    • Rellugaddi (Telugu)
    • Bagberi, Kamis (Marathi)
    • Choottapullu, Kusa, Kusadarbha, Kuruvikarimbu, Nannana, Njangan (Malayalam)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Wetlands
  • Comments / notes : Very common along stream banks, near arable lands etc.
  • Flower, Fruit : September-March
  • Collector(s) Name : Raja K. Swamy, Navendu Page, Ravichandran V.; K.P.Sreenath, S.R.Ramesh
  • Collection Date : 28-02-2017, 16-11-1978
  • Collection Nos : HJCB 960, KFP 4390
  • Collection Locality : Similipahar Tiger Reserve Forest, Odisha; Neermanvi, Raichur district
  • Distribution :
    • Andhra Pradesh : Chittoor district, Y.S.R. Kadapa district
    • Karnataka : Bengaluru Urban district, Bengaluru Rural district, Belagavi district, Ballari district Bidar district, Dharwad district, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) district, Hassan district, Mysuru district, Tumakuru district, Dakshina Kannada district
    • Kerala : All districts of Kerala
    • Maharashtra : All districts of Maharashtra
    • Tamil Nadu : KMTR (Tirunelveli district)
    • Puducherry : Puducherry
    • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
    • Sikkim : Sikkim
    • Himachal Pradesh : Himachal Pradesh
    • Arunachal Pradesh : Kameng, Lohit, Subansiri
    • Meghalaya : Meghalaya
    • Assam : Assam
    • Nagaland : Nagaland
    • Delhi : Delhi
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Rajasthan : Jaisalmer district, Barmer district, Bikaner district, Jodhpur district
    • Jammu and Kashmir : Jammu and Kashmir
    • Mizoram : Mizoram
    • Andaman and Nicobar Islands : Andaman and Nicobar Islands
    • Manipur : Manipur
    • Tripura : Tripura
  • Native : Afghanistan, Algeria, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bismarck Archipelago, Burkina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Repu, Chad, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Gulf States, Hainan, India, Japan, Jawa, Kazakhstan, K
  • Exotic/Native : Native
  • World Distribution : Old World tropics
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • Franklin Benjamin & G.V.S.Murthy, 2013. Flora of Sri Venkateswara National Park, Andhra Pradesh, BSI
    • B. D. Sharma, S. Karthikeyan & N. P. Singh 1996 - Flora of Maharashtra state - Monocotyledons
    • Matthew, K.M., The Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (2). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983
    • Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
    • Saldanha & Nicolson, 1976 – Flora of Hassan District
    • Ramaswamy & Razi, 1973 – Flora of Bangalore District
    • Seetharam et al., 2000 – Flora of Gulbarga District
    • Rao & Razi, 1981 – A Synoptic Flora of Mysore District
    • Keshava Murthy & Yoganarasimhan, 1990 – Flora of Coorg District
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2003 – Flora of Udupi District
    • Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara
    • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Materials for Flora of Arunachal Pradesh. Volume 3, Botanical Survey of India, 2009. Pg.: 305
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Saccharum spontaneum
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2026). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Saccharum spontaneum. Downloaded on 24 January 2026.

Botanical Description

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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