sugar cane

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Saccharum officinarum) having thick, solid, tough stems that are a chief commercial source of sugar.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A saccharine grass, Saccharum officinarum, the original source of manufactured sugar, and still the source of most of the supply. The sugar-cane is a stout perennial with the habit of Indian corn and sorghum, growing from 6 to 20 feet high; the leaves are broad and flat, 3 feet or more long; the joints of the stalk are about 3 inches long near the foot, becoming longer upwardly, at length producing a very long joint called the “arrow,” which bears a large panicle. Sugar-cane is propagated almost wholly by cuttings, the power to perfect seed being nearly lost through cultivation. Seedlings, however, have recently been observed in Barbados. The first growth from the cuttings is called plant-cane. The succeeding years the root sends up ratoons, which form the crop for one, two, or sometimes more years, its value decreasing from exhaustion of the soil. The cane requires a rich moist soil, preferring the vicinity of the sea. The plant is not known in a wild state, but is supposed to have originated in southern Asia, perhaps in Cochin-China or Bengal. Its cultivation in those regions began very early, and now extends throughout the tropics, the stalk being chewed where not otherwise used. It is grown in the United States in several southern States, but only in Louisiana in sufficient amount for the export of sugar.
2. n. In recent years sugar-cane has frequently been grown from seed and the seedlings, which present great variation, have been utilized for selection, but not for cropping.

Wiktionary

1. n. A tropical grass of the genus Saccharum (especially the species Saccharum officinarum) having stout, fibrous, jointed stalks, the sap of which is a source of sugar.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Bot.) a tall perennial grass (Saccharum officinarium), with thick short-jointed stems. It has been cultivated for ages as the principal source of sugar.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. tall tropical southeast Asian grass having stout fibrous jointed stalks; sap is a chief source of sugar
2. n. juicy canes whose sap is a source of molasses and commercial sugar; fresh canes are sometimes chewed for the juice
3. n. tall tropical southeast Asian grass having stout fibrous jointed stalks; sap is a chief source of sugar
4. n. juicy canes whose sap is a source of molasses and commercial sugar; fresh canes are sometimes chewed for the juice