Miscanes - Hardy Hybrid Sugar Cane

This post has been created to document my observations with the following four Saccharum × Miscanthus hybrids (aka "miscanes"):

Plant Name	USDA-ARS Accession #	USDA-ARS Inventory #	Pedigree
MIA 36952	MIA 36952	MIA 36952 PL	*POJ 2725 x **Miscanthus
'Walluca'	MIA 36958	MIA 36958 PL	**Miscanthus x ***Saccharum
'Fiji 59'	PI 268061	MIA 35497 PL	**Miscanthus x Saccharum officinarum
'Fiji 53'	PI 271853	MIA 35492 PL	**Miscanthus x Saccharum officinarum

*POJ 2725 is male sterile hybrid Saccharum or "noble cane" derived from S. officinarum introgressed with S. spontaneum (to add various disease resistance traits).

**Unspecified Miscanthus species

***Unspecified Saccharum species, but due to the fact that this was a hybrid developed for sugar cane breeding it is almost certainly either S. officinarum or a hybrid thereof. 

Miscanes are interesting in that they are able to photosynthesize at lower temperatures than pure Saccharum sugarcane selections as well as more quickly bouncing back after temperature drops.  Here's an interesting article on the topic for those interested: Chill-tolerant hybrid sugarcane also grows at lower temperatures

Top to bottom MIA 36952, 'Fiji 59', 'Walluca', 'Fiji 53' 

4/14/2022 - Today I received cuttings from all four selections.  

  I was surprised at how much MIA 36952 looks like normal sugar cane having much thicker stems than I had anticipated given that it's a hybrid with Miscanthus grass!  The base color on younger sections of stem is a very pale yellowish-green, but more mature stem sections have an overlay of burnt orange to red color.

  'Fiji 59' has the thinnest average diameter compared to the others (to early to say yet if that will be the norm), but still was very substantial.  It has a uniform purple color with a light waxy bloom over the surface.  Very attractive.

  Both 'Walluca' and 'Fiji 53' are very similar in appearance to each other with an average diameter intermediate between MIA 36952 and 'Fiji 59'.  Bother are a very pale greenish-cream color, but 'Fiji 53' may have the slightest bit more green saturation of the two (the difference is subtle enough that it could simply be from varying light exposure though). 

  I am starting the cuttings off in a hydrating soak of water with a splash of H2O2 added.  Later this week once the cold snap is over I'll be planting the cuttings in soil and moving them out to my unheated greenhouse to continue rooting.  

Update 9/24/2022 - Three of the four are growing strong, but the fourth - MIA 36952 (the one that looks most like sugar cane) has been very weak.  It was the last to sprout and despite having planted four stems of this variety, only two small sprouts have emerged.  I believe this variety may need more heat than the others and unfortunately we had an unusually long cool spring this year.  I don't know if it will grow enough to have overwintering ability, but time will tell.