| DESCRIPTION: It is a annual or perennial, aquatic plant reaching up to 1.2-2.4 m in height. USE: It is often cultivated as a food plant in Asia, it has edible rhizomes, young shoots, seed and stem bases. The swollen stem bases, infected with a smut fungus, are eaten as a raw or cooked vegetable by the Chinese and is very popular. The leaves can be woven into mats. The shoots, roots and the seed are diuretic and febrifuge. The leaves are tonic. GROWING PERIOD: Annual or perennial depending on growing conditions. COMMON NAMES: Water bamboo, Manchurian wild rice. FURTHER INF: It requires hot summers with temperatures between 20-30°C if it is to do well. At 20°C, the plant grows poorly and the harvested stems are not tender. It withstands winter temperatures in England and in Beijing. A marsh or water plant requiring poorly drained soil, shallow stagnant or better slowly flowing water. It is easily grown in most soils but thrives in slightly acidic, clay or clay-loam soil high in organic matter. |