Giant Cane (Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl.)
↑Summary
A bamboo species native to North America, once widespread and a dominant plant in the southeastern U.S., but having declined greatly.
↑Range - Expand
| Legend | Color |
| Native | |
| Native or Not Present |
This tentative map is based on our own research. It may have limited data on Canada and/or Mexico, and there is some subjectivity in our assignment of plants as introduced vs. expanded. Read more in this blog post.
Although this plant occurs somewhere in each of these regions, it may only occur in a small part of some or all of them.
↑Habitat
Mostly found in bottomlands and flat areas with water-saturated soils, but can be found on mesic to slightly drier sites as well. Usually only a dominant plant in areas prone to fire. It has been hypothesized that this species most inhabited sites transitional between more frequently-disturbed sites (which would favor grasses and sedges) and less-frequently-disturbed sites (which would support closed-canopy forests.)
↑Related Plants
Switch cane (Arundinaria tecta) is closely related, and has sometimes been treated as a variety of the same species. Similarly, hill cane (Arundinaria appalachiana) was also until recently treated as a subspecies or variety of switch cane.
Numerous other genera belong to the Arundinarieae tribe of the grass family, mostly non-native. Several, including 12 Phyllostachys species, three Pleioblastus species, and Pseudosasa japonica, have been introduced in North America.
There are even more bamboos in the broader Bambusoideae subfamily.
↑Links & External Resources
• Giant Cane | Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea (Giant Cane) | Illinois Wildflowers (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea (Giant Cane) | USDA PLANTS Database (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea (Giant Cane Bamboo) | Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea | Biota of North America Project (BONAP) (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea | NatureServe Explorer (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea | Flora of North America (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea | Missouri Plants (About This Site)
• Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Muhl. (Giant Cane, River Cane) | Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora (About This Site)
