Saccharum spontaneum

Kans grass is a grass native to South Asia. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading rhizomatous roots. Leaves are harsh and linear, 6 to 15 mm wide.

An inflorescence is plumose panicles, which are white and erect, measuring 15-30 cm long, with slender and whorled branches, the joints covered with soft white hair. In the Terai region, Kans grass quickly colonizes exposed silt plains created each year by the retreating monsoon floods, forming almost pure stands on the lowest portions of the floodplain. A decoction made from the roots and rhizomes of the wild sugar cane, or Kans grass as it is also known, is used to promote milk in breastfeeding mothers and as a diuretic. A decoction of the top parts of the plant is used for blood disorders, hemorrhages and biliousness among other things.