 Botany
Tikiu is a very coarse, large, erect, glabrous, aquatic or marshy herb. Stems are triangular, 1.5 to 2 meters high or more. Leaves are few, basal, often half as long as the stem, 1 to 2 centimeters wide, the leaflike bracts subtending the inflorescence, spreading, broad, 30 to 60 centimeters long. Inflorescence is corymbose, and 10 to 18 centimeters long. Spikelets are very numerous, brown, ovoid, and 5 to 8 millimeters long. Nuts are obovoid, trigonous, dark brown or black, and shining.
Distribution
- In fresh-water swamps, edges of ponds, and in newly opened rice lands at low altitudes from central Luzon to Mindanao in most provinces and islands.
- Native to Southeast Asia.
- Naturalized in Australia, Borneo, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Properties
- Root considered sweet, colling, laxative, tonic to the liver, astringent, antidiarrheal, antiemetic.
Parts used
Roots.
Uses
Folkloric
- Root is astringent, and is given to check diarrhea and vomiting.
- Roots used against infection, burning sensatives, fevers and gonorrhea.
- Used
as diuretic.
Others
• Veterinary: In India, sap extracted from leaves and stem of S. grossus is mixed with garlic, and the paste applied topically for cattle wounds.
• Basketry: Stems, dried and flattened, are used for making mats, baskets, etc.
Studies
• Radioactive Pollution Indicator: The sea weed (Scirpus grossus Linn ) was used as an experimental plant to indicate radioactive pollution in estuaries. The results showed that the accumulation of 137Cs,65Zn, 60Co, 50Fe and 54Mn by Scirpus grossus was proportional to their concentration in the soil.
• Domestic Wastewater Treatment: Study examined the ability of Scirpus grossus planted in a constructed wetland to treat domestic wastewater. Results showed S. grossus has great potential in removing pollutants in constructed wetlands in tropical regions.
• Caloric Value Enhancement after Lead Phytotoxicity Test: Study showed the use of the plant as contaminant uptake in phytoremediation can enhance the caloric value of the plant. It presents a potential use as bioenergy alternative according to enhancement of its caloric value.
• Phytotoxicity Test on Diesel-Contaminated Water: Study showed S. grossus and rhizobacteria in a subsurface flow system has potential in reclaiming hydrocarbon-contaminated water through enhancement of rhizobacteria by S. grossus in degrading hydrocarbon.
Availability
Wild-crafted. |
