A native we do not grow
River Cane
Arundinaria gigantea. Shrub, 3 to 33 feet, zones 5 to 9; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.
We do not grow river cane, and it is not in our shop. This page is for telling it from the plants it is mistaken for.
At a glance
| Other names | Giant cane, canebrake bamboo, giant cane bamboo, American bamboo, wild bamboo, fishing-pole cane, mutton grass |
|---|---|
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 3 to 33 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 20 |
| Zones | 5 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Evergreen |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | February to July |
| Fruit | Grains, June to August |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Transplanting | The Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System says: "The survival of transplanted cane varies widely, and slow growth is a common problem." The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's plant guide says: "Giant cane can also be transplanted during the late fall to early spring." |
| Planting season | Fall or spring. NRCS sets the date within spring by the flooding regime or the drought index, and its plant guide found winter planting, December to March, did best in Alabama and Mississippi. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, the forest understory and rich moist slopes |
| Native in | 22 states |
River cane is native in 22 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in New York, where it is naturalized, not native.
Often mistaken for
Switchcane is shorter, usually under about 8 feet, with long branches that arch outward, and its stands often look bluer. It grows only on the Coastal Plain, in swampy woods and wet pine barrens. Cut across, its rhizome shows a ring of air canals, which river cane's lacks.
Hill cane is the smallest of the three, usually 2 to 3 feet tall, and the only one whose leaves fall in winter. It grows on moist to dry slopes and in seeps of the southern Appalachians and upper Piedmont.
Giant reed, a grass from Europe, is sometimes mistaken for river cane but is no true bamboo. Its stems mostly live a single year and branch little, while river cane's woody stems live for years and branch freely above.
Handling
River cane spreads by rhizomes into dense stands and can take over a home landscape. To keep it in bounds, set a barrier in the soil around it, or grow it in large plastic pots sunk into the ground. It is highly flammable, so keep it out of the defensible space around a house. North of its range, cold winters kill it back to the ground.
Read from
Its figures come from the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Flora of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Wildflower Center, the USDA PLANTS Database, Tall Timbers and Castanea.