North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Arundinaria gigantea

Arundinaria gigantea (Walter) Muhl.

giant cane, river cane

Synonym(s): Arundinaria gigantea ssp. gigantea, Arundinaria gigantea ssp. macrosperma

Image ID: 10217
Image by: Sorrie, Bruce A.
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: ARGI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Arundinaria gigantea
Include in WOTAS: 0
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2020-01-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: ARUND2
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Arundinaria
GENUS AUTHORITY: Michx.
GENUS COMMON: Cane
GENUS SUMMARY: (contributed by Alan S. Weakley and Jimmy K. Triplett)
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Ward (2009c)=V; Clark & Triplett in FNA (2007a); Tucker (1988)=Y; McClure (1973)=Z; McClure (1963); Judziewicz et al. (2000)=X; Triplett, Weakley, & Clark (2006)=Q. The key is adapted from Q.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: POACEA
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Poaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Grass Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
FAMILY REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO:
STEMS:
LEAVES:
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS:
FRUITS:
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT:

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Subshrub, Shrub, Grass/Grasslike

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Alternate
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION: Evergreen

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY:
BLOOM TIME: Apr-Jul

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR:

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
					x

FRUITING PERIOD:

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE:
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Moist/Wet
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
1902	1986-1686			View
4347	1992-0503			View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
3006	1902	6	NCBG staff	1971-06-01	View
3007	1902	61	NCBG staff	1971-06-01	View
3008	1902	62	NCBG staff	1971-06-01	View
3009	1902	81	NCBG staff	2002-04-12	View
6675	4347	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: ARGI
USDA Common Name: Giant Cane
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DE, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Shrub, Graminoid

NATIONAL WETLAND INDICATOR STATUS

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:	FACW				FACW	FACW		FACW

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2016 National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.3 (Lichvar, R.W., D.L. Banks, W.N. Kirchner, and N.C. Melvin. 2016. The National Wetland Plant List: 2016 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2016-30: 1-17. Published 28 April 2016. ISSN 2153 733X). Regions: AGCP-Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain, AK-Alaska, AW-Arid West, CB-Caribbean, EMP-Eastern Mountains and Piedmont, GP-Great Plains, HI-Hawaii, MW-Midwest, NCNE-Northcentral and Northeast, WMCV-Western Mountains, Valleys & Coast

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Arundinaria gigantea
COMMON NAME: Giant Cane, River Cane
SYNONYMY: [= F, FNA, HC, Q, S, Tn, Va, WV, Y; < A. gigantea - C, GW, RAB, WH3 (also see A. tecta); = A. gigantea ssp. gigantea - K, Z; > A. gigantea ssp. gigantea - X; > A. gigantea (Walter) Muhlenberg ssp. macrosperma (Michaux) McClure - X; = A. macrosperma Michaux - V]
PHENOLOGY: Apr-Jul.
HABITAT: Swamps, floodplain.
COMMENTS: S. OH south to FL and e. TX. There has been much disagreement over the recognition of one, two, or several taxa of cane in the Southeastern United States. This species reaches heights of 6-7 (-10) m and is supposed to flower only once every 40-50 years. A. macrosperma Michaux is controversial; it has sometimes been considered to be a synonym of A. gigantea or to represent hybridization or introgression between A. gigantea and A. tecta.
RANGE MAP: Arundinaria gigantea.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Poaceae (R. Brown) Barnhart 1895 or GRAMINEAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Grass Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 771 genera and 12,074 species, herbs (and some shrubs and trees), cosmopolitan. Tribal classification largely follows FNA (2003a, 2007a), with some changes based on subsequent research, as for instance in the Chloridoideae (Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson 2010a).
REFERENCE: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003a, 2007a)=FNA; Hitchcock and Chase (1950)=HC; Blomquist (1948); Peterson, Romaschenko, & Johnson (2010a, 2010b). Key to genera adapted in large part from FNA.

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Arundinaria Michx. (Cane)
SUMMARY: (contributed by Alan S. Weakley and Jimmy K. Triplett)
REFERENCE: Ward (2009c)=V; Clark & Triplett in FNA (2007a); Tucker (1988)=Y; McClure (1973)=Z; McClure (1963); Judziewicz et al. (2000)=X; Triplett, Weakley, & Clark (2006)=Q. The key is adapted from Q.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Arundinaria gigantea in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Arundinaria gigantea in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Arundinaria gigantea in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Arundinaria gigantea in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Arundinaria gigantea in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Arundinaria gigantea

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 10217 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 10217 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 10221 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 0 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)