Arundinaria gigantea: Giant Cane as North American Native Bamboo

Summary: Arundinaria gigantea, known as giant cane or river cane, is a New World native species of bamboo with homelands in south central and eastern United States.

Giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea): James H. Miller & Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0, via Forestry Images

Arundinaria gigantea is a New World bamboo species native to the south central United States eastward to the east coast, skipping Pennsylvania, to its northernmost range in New York. The perennial evergreen in the grass family, Poaceae, ranges across 23 states, with its westernmost extents in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Arundinaria gigantea thrives in a variety of habitats, with tolerance for extremes in soils and temperatures. Habitats encompass sea-level swamplands in Florida, vernal pools at altitudes of 1,240 feet (378 meters) in the Great Valley of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains and elevations of 2,000 feet (610 meters) in the Appalachian Mountains in New York.

The woody grass adapts to soil types from muck lands and rocky cliffs to rich alluvial deposits.

The New World bamboo is undaunted by temperature extremes of as low as minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 degrees Celsius) and as high as 105 degrees F (40 degrees C).

Just as Eastern white pines (Pinus strobus) dominated the pristine landscapes in northeastern and north central colonial and pioneer America, Arundinaria gigantea dominated the variegated ecosystems in the southeast. Unfettered by agriculture or urban environments, Arundinaria gigantea flourished as canebrakes, extensive colonies of individuals living in close proximity.

Arundinaria gigantea is known commonly as giant cane or river cane.

River cane grows from a network of underground stems, known as rhizomes (Ancient Greek ῥίζα, rhíza, “root”).

The rounded hollow cane, or stem, arises above the ground to heights ranging from about 6.5 feet (1.98 meters) to 33 feet (10 meters).

Lance-shaped leaves measure a maximum length of 12 inches (30 centimeters) with a narrow width of 1.6 inches (4 centimeters).

Flowers, which appear irregularly and sometimes gregariously, form as racemes or simple panicles. Spikelets reach maximum lengths of almost 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) and widths of around 0.3 inches (8 millimeters).

Giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea) presents a stately silhouette in its native habitats in the south central and eastern United States.

The spring, or vernal (Latin: ver, "spring"), pool that hugs the northwestern perimeter of my yard is a supportive environment for Arundinaria gigantea. Hopefully, river cane will form canebrakes and encircle the pool as in olden days.

Amazingly, America can lay claim to its own native species of bamboo.

native status map of Arundinaria gigantea: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Team, Public Domain, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea): James H. Miller & Ted Bodner, Southern Weed Science Society, Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0, via Forestry Images @ http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1120624

native status map of Arundinaria gigantea: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Team, Public Domain, via USDA NRCS PLANTS Database @ http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ARGI

For further information:

"Arundinaria gigantea." US Forest Service > Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) Database > Plants > Graminoid.
Available @ http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/arugig/all.html