A special guest article by WONA member Annabelle Lee
North America’s only native bamboo species is a little known critically endangered plant – cane of the genus Arundinaria. Arundinaria is in the Poaceae family, and contains four distinct species of cane, all of which are found in Alabama! Rivercane, Arundinaria gigantea, is the most commonly found species in the southeast as well as the largest species, followed by the shorter arundinaraia tecta, or switch cane. There is also Arundinaria appalachiana, or hill cane, which grows in drier and more elevated areas in the southern Appalachian mountains and Arundinaria alabamensis, or Tallapoosa cane. Tallapoosa cane appears limited to the Tallapoosa watershed, having only been discovered as a distinct species in 2023 by Dr. Jimmy Triplett of Jacksonville State University (who was involved in the 2007 discovery of Arundinaria appalachiana) and has only been found in four counties of Alabama so far.
Arundinaria can be distinguished from asiatic bamboos through several observations in conjunction, although bamboo identification is always tricky. Cane doesn’t grow as wide as asiatic bamboos in general, and the diameter of its culm, or main stem, will stop around 3/4 of an inch – Arundinaria gigantea can sometimes grow up to a diameter of 1 inch. Cane also is shorter than a lot of asiatic bamboos – gigantea can grow 20 feet tall, while tecta get up around 8 feet, appalachiana around 6 feet, and alabamensis around 8 feet. The top of young cane stems will have “topnots” of six to twelve leaves that fan outward in a distinctive cluster. Additionally, the lateral branches growing from the node on the main culm have a messy and “tangled” appearance, as three to five of the branches will grow from a single node.
(Arundinaria tecta “topknot”, photo by Will McFarland) (Tangled appearance of branches)
Asiatic bamboos often have longer branches that grow at a 45 degree angle, while arundinaria branches grow more parallel to the culm. Arundinaria also has short, fine hairs on the underside of the leaves, densely patterned for all species except appalanchiana. The leaf texture is leathery for gigantea and tecta and more papery for appalachiana and alabemensis. Arundinaria tecta also has easily visible hairs called auricles at the base of its leaves, where the culm meets the leaf.
(Rivercane flowers with anthers, photo by Will Holley) (Arundinaria tecta auricles, photo by Thomas Lappin)
Cane is a “running” bamboo, and grows from underground rhizomes to form dense stands called “canebrakes.”
(Canebrake along bank, photo by Will Holley) (Canebrake, source)
Canebrakes provide critical habitat to many animals and insects, and cane is the sole host plant for a multitude of moths and butterflies, like the Creole Pearly-Eye. Cane leaves and culms provide nutritious forage for grazing animals, cover from predators, and nesting sites for songbirds like the Swainson’s Warbler and now extinct Bachman’s Warbler – it is thought by some the loss of canebrakes directly contributed to the Bachman’s Warblers extinction. Canebrakes can host deer, wild turkey, rabbits (including “swamp rabbits”), canebrake rattlesnakes, beavers and even black bears. Cane excels at water filtration and having canebrakes along the banks of rivers and streams mitigates flooding and erosion while improving water quality. The loss of this habitat affects other plants as well – the endangered Alabama canebrake pitcher plant, sarracenia alabamensis, grows in and alongside canebrakes.
Map of Arundinaria gigantea’s range (Source)
Arundinaria’s range used to extend as far north as New York, down the east coast to Florida, and as far west as Texas and the midwest. It is now found in less than 2% of its original range, limited to the southeast. At least 98% of pre-colonial populations have been destroyed, with some speculating as high as 99%. This loss is due to colonization and its continued impacts. There was the expansion of European agriculture that converted vast swathes of canebrakes to farmland, especially since thought the presence of cane indicated good soil quality. There was also habitat loss from overgrazing by cattle. Cane makes great nutritional year-round forage, but constant grazing overtaxes the rhizomes energy stores and will eventually kill off the canebrake. There was also the intentional destruction by settlers as acts of ownership over both land and people in the Southeast – canebrakes are dense and tall, and provided safety for the native people during the early days of colonization and could shelter runaway slaves later in the Antebellum south. Additionally, there was/is the damming and draining of wetland areas which impacts cane, and the loss of controlled burns in North America. Controlled burns reduce competing vegetation and invasive species that overshadow cane, so with less burns came less sun and space to flourish.
Cane thrives through disturbance and burns, although burning cane more than once a decade is not recommended. Burns stimulate the cane to sprout new culms rapidly (some measuring growth of 1.5 inches per day!), using the energy stored in the rhizomes. The best practice to expand cane brakes is to harvest culms periodically, as sunlight will reach new culms, stimulating growth while maintaining the stand. New cane can be most easily grown from seed or through the division of the rhizomes at the outskirts of the canebrake – the underground network of rhizomes within the center of a healthy canebrake forms a dense near impenetrable mat.
Due to the isolated remnants of Arundinaria, genetic diversity remains an issue for restoring them to the landscape. Some canebrakes have been found to be made of a single individual – a clonal colony. The flowering and seed production of cane is inconsistent, as it only flowers once its mature and some inscrutable conditions are reached – the stand could flower at ten, twenty, or thirty years old, and then regularly or sparingly afterward. Some canebrakes flower year after year in the spring, while others flower and produce little to no seed. Additionally, seeds can have low germination rates based on the stand. After flowering, a stand culm’s will die back rapidly to return the next year, with reports of clonal stands having a die off of both culms and rhizomes (although without widespread genetic testing, this is hard to verify). Interestingly, University of Alabama’s CONSERVE group is working with the United Ketoowah Band of Cherokee Indians to sequence the genome of Arundinaria gigantea.
Cane is a plant with a long history and large impact, and is of great cultural value to a multitude of indigenous tribes from the midwest to the southeast. Rivercane is regarded as cultural keystone species for many tribal nations and they are the ones leading the charge on rivercane restoration programs throughout the southeast: the Eastern Band of Cherokees is involved in reestablishing rivercane along French Broad River in Asheville, North Carolina in 2023; the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Arkansas are working with the Forest service to restore rivercane along Mulberry River; the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in the Kisatchie National Forest working to restore and reestablish rivercane patches.
Rivercane provided food and building materials for a wide range of items pre-colonial. Abundant seeds could be ground into flour and the canebrakes provided ample hunting opportunities. Cane is lightweight and water resistant with a high load bearing capacity, which made it a wonderful building material. Cane was used in various ways, from keeping out water with woven mats, to building furniture, rafts, musical instruments, blowguns and fishing tools. And most culturally relevant, rivercane was used for basketweaving. Rivercane basket weaving is a long standing practice and artform, the oldest basketweaving tradition in the southeast. It is a labor intensive process, with younger, more flexible cane being ideal for weaving, and natural dyes being used in patterns like black walnut, bitternut, and bloodroot.
(Rivercane baskets and photos by Will Holley, find more on his instagram @canecutterbasketry)
Rivercane basketry has been targeted for revival, like with the Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources (RTCAR) initiative through the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. Besides the loss of knowledge of weaving, the major issue faced is a lack of material itself – cane. Cane continues to be destroyed in our environment with land development, and there is a lack of knowledge about cane itself in the general public, much less how important a species it is ecologically and historically. The landscape in the southeast changed so drastically in the past 200 years that canebrakes are almost a forgotten habitat, despite how ubiquitous they used to be.
The Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama is hosting a River Cane Preservation Celebration that is free and open to the public in Langston, Alabama August 30-31st. For more information, visit their website at https://cherokeetribeofnortheastalabama.org/events, and for more information visit https://alabama.travel/upcoming-events/indigenous-culture-and-river-cane-preservation-celebration.
Other Sources:
North Carolina State Extension
United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service