Sugar and Other Sweeteners
Sugar cane, Saccharum, is comprised of a number of species of tall perennial grasses native to the tropical regions of South and Southeast Asia. Different species originated in different regions; S. barberi came from India and S. edule and S. officinarum came from Papua New Guinea. All sugar cane species can and do interbreed; the commercial cultivars now used are complex hybrids.
Sugar cane looks similar to some varieties of bamboo. The stalks are thick, jointed and fibrous, and grow to twenty feet in height. While the canes were traditionally grown from seeds