Description: Rhizomes can be eaten raw, roasted, or boiled or dried into a powder to make bread, usually with other cereal flours. Leaves are cooked as a potherb. The hollow stems contain silica making them strong and flexible. They can be used as fishing rods, walking sticks, plant supports or splints. Also used to make tools such as bobbins for weaving & musical instruments. Fibre from the stems can be used to make paper. Terminal panicles are made into brooms. Leaves can be woven into mats. The split & flattened stems are used to make screens & walls. A yellow dye is obtained from the pollen. Root is used as a diuretic, to induce perspiration & to soften the skin and as a paste applied to the forehead to treat headaches. An infusion is said to stimulate menstrual discharge & diminish milk flow.