kaseru :

Morphology:

Stoloniferous perennial, to c. 2 m. Stem sharply trigonous, edges scabrous, sides concave. Leaves c. half of stem length; sheaths 14-20 cm, soft, yellowish green, disintegrating into fibres; blades 60-100 cm x 5-27 mm, flat, greyish green, keeled, margins slightly revolute, scabrous. Anthelodium, c. 12 x 10 cm; bracts to 60 x 1.5 cm; primary branches more than 10, up to 60 mm, two from each basal tubular prophyll, tubular prophylls to 12 mm, with spongy basal part, scabrous; secondary anthelodia up to 65 mm, secondary branches up to 35 mm, two from each tubular prophyll, tubular prophylls c. 5 mm; tertiary anthelodia to c. 30 mm, tertiary branches each ending with solitary spike or with additional peduncled spike (occasionally even small quaternary anthelodium is produced), peduncles to 5-12 mm, bracts c. 4 mm, tubular prophyll c. 3 mm; spikes 3-7 x 2-4 mm, ovoid; glumes 2.4-2.7 mm, cymbiform, barbed, apex rounded, with short mucro, sides nerveless, brown, margin narrowly fringed. Perianth bristles slightly longer than fruit; stamens 3, anther c. 1.5 mm. Nut 1.5-1.6 x 1.1-1.2 mm, widely obovoid, apiculate, finely papillose, glossy, pale brown or brown.

Histology:

Tranverse section of rhizome shows epidermis of collapsed and brown coloured

cells: hypodermis, 4-8 cells with thick brown cell walls, followed by a wide zone of

cortical ground tissue of oval to rounded, thin-walled, parenchymatous cells, filled with

oval to spherical starch grains, encircled by sclerenchymatous sheath, vascular bundles,

found scattered throughout cortical ground tissue, endodermis consists of brown

coloured cells with heavy thickenings on thier walls, enclosing a wide central stelar

ground tissue with a number of scattered vascular bundles of closed, collateral type,

encircled by sclerenchymatous sheath, stelar ground tissues of rounded to oval, thin-

walled and parenchymatous cells, containing oval to spherical starch grains, a number of

secretory cell with orange-brown contents found throughout cortical and stelar ground

tissue.

Kotakkal Ayurveda - Mother land of modern ayurveda

kaseru - Scirpus grossus Linn. - Cyperaceae

kaseru :

Morphology:

Histology:

Medicinal Plants