[shoo
g-er-keyn] 
| a tall grass, Saccharum officinarum, of tropical and warm regions, having a stout, jointed stalk, and constituting the chief source of sugar. |
| sugar cane or sug·ar·cane (shŏŏg'ər-kān') n. A tall tropical southeast Asian grass (Saccharum officinarum) having thick, solid, tough stems that are a chief commercial source of sugar. |
sugarcane
perennial grass of the genus Saccharum cultivated for its juice, from which sugar is processed. Most present-day commercial canes are the offsprings or hybrids of the species Saccharum officinarum, which was developed from a wild cane species, Saccharum robustom, and cultivated by natives of southern Pacific Islands. This article treats the cultivation of the sugarcane plant. For information on the processing of cane sugar and the history of its use, see the article sugar.
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