Canebrake bamboo, Cane Reed, Giant cane
Arundinaria gigantea

Family: Poaceae or Gramineae

What it is like

Canebrake bamboo - Young shoots are edible and cooked. They are used as a pot-herb. The seed is also cooked and used as a wheat substitute. The extensive growth of the plant provides streambank stabilization, sediment retention, and bioaccumulation of nutrients and toxins.So long as it can be restrained, the plant makes an excellent, dense hedge or screen. Arundinaria gigantea tecta is a smaller subspecies commonly called dwarf canebrake and grows to about 1.5m. Conditions for dwarf canebrake are similar to the larger version.

Arundinaria gigantea is an evergreen Bamboo growing to 9 m (29ft 6in). See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 6. It is in leaf all year. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.

Height (m): 9

Where it is found

Forms dense thickets along riverbanks, in swamps and low woods. Found on all types of soil from sea level to 600 metres.

Southeastern N. America - Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Oklahoma to North Carolina, Florida and Texas.

Conservation Status:

Countries/locations it is found in

Australia, Britain, Europe, North America, USA. The USDA database lists Arundinaria gigantea (Canebrake bamboo ) as native to some of the L48 (Lower 48 States). Native to river banks, moist bottomlands, swampy areas and bogs from Florida to Texas north to Kansas, southern Illinois and New York.

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Young shoots - cooked. Used as a pot-herb. Seed - cooked. It can be used as a wheat substitute, for which it is not much inferior, but it is rather small and difficult to collect in quantity. The plants only flower at irregular intervals of several years.

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Stem: this often intergrades into leaves.

Medicine

Rating: 1

The root is cathartic. A decoction has been used to stimulate the kidneys and 'renew strength'.

Cathartic: A strong laxative but less violent than a purgative.

Other

Rating: 4

Agroforestry Uses: With its extensive running root system, the plant is ideal for helping to control soil erosion, especially along the sides of rivers. The extensive growth of the plant provides streambank stabilization, sediment retention, and bioaccumulation of nutrients and toxins.So long as it can be restrained, the plant makes an excellent, dense hedge or screen. The canes are used as pipe-stems, are woven into baskets and mats plus a variety of other purposes. The hollow stems can be made into flutes. Carbon Farming Solutions - Industrial Crop: biomass (Crops grown for non-food uses. Industrial crops provide resources in three main categories: materials, chemicals, and energy. Traditional materials include lumber and thatch, paper and cardboard, and textiles). Fodder: bank.

Basketry: Plant used in making baskets and other items such as chairs. Includes plants that are only used as an ornamental addition.

Fodder: Food given to the animals (including plants cut and carried to them) rather than forage for themselves.

Hedge: Plants that can be grown as hedges.

Musical: Specific mention of plants used as musical instruments. Does not include the various woods that can be used for making musical instruments.

Soil stabilization: Plants that can be grown in places such as sand dunes in order to prevent erosion by wind, water or other agents.

Weaving: Items such as grass and palm leaves that are woven together for making mats, baskets etc. See also Basket making and Fibre.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Management: Managed Multistem: Regularly removing some multiple stems. A non-A non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Wild Crop: Some wild plants have strong historical or contemporary use. Although they are not cultivated crops, they may be wild-managed.

Fodder: Bank: Fodder banks are plantings of high-quality fodder species. Their goal is to maintain healthy productive animals. They can be utilized all year, but are designed to bridge the forage scarcity of annual dry seasons. Fodder bank plants are usually trees or shrubs, and often legumes. The relatively deep roots of these woody perennials allow them to reach soil nutrients and moisture not available to grasses and herbaceous plants.

Management: Managed Multistem: Regularly removing some multiple stems. A non-A non-destructive management systems maintaining the soil organic carbon.

Wild Crop: Some wild plants have strong historical or contemporary use. Although they are not cultivated crops, they may be wild-managed.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.

Hedge: Hedge

How it is grown

Prefers an open loam of fair quality and a position sheltered from cold drying winds. Succeeds on peaty soils. Requires abundant moisture and plenty of organic matter in the soil. Plants are intolerant of drought. Succeeds in full sun or dappled shade in warm, humid, damp conditions. Some reports say that this plant is only hardy in S.W. England though another report says that the roots are hardy to about -30°c if they are heavily mulched. This plant used to form very extensive stands in much of south-eastern N. America, but it provides a nutritious forage and is very easily destroyed by the continuous grazing of cattle or the rooting of pigs and so has been greatly reduced in the wild. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus. Plants only flower at intervals of many years. When they do come into flower most of the plants energies are directed into producing seed and consequently the plant is severely weakened. They sometimes die after flowering, but if left alone they will usually recover though they will look very poorly for a few years. If fed with artificial NPK fertilizers at this time the plants are more likely to die. The rootstock is running, forming new shoots from late May. Carbon Farming Solutions - Managed bamboo forest sequester more carbon than wild bamboo and the same as fast-growing tropical trees like eucalyptus. Cultivation: minor global crop. Management: managed multistem (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation). The plant is heat tolerant in zones 9 through 5. (Plant Hardiness Zones show how well plants withstand cold winter temperatures. Plant Heat Zones show when plants would start suffering from the heat. The Plant Heat Zone map is based on the number of "heat days" experienced in a given area where the temperature climbs to over 86 degrees F (30°C). At this temperature, many plants begin to suffer physiological damage. Heat Zones range from 1 (no heat days) to 12 (210 or more heat days). For example Heat Zone. 11-1 indicates that the plant is heat tolerant in zones 11 through 1.) For polyculture design as well as the above-ground architecture (form - tree, shrub etc. and size shown above) information on the habit and root pattern is also useful and given here if available. An evergreen. The plant growth habit is a runner spreading indefinitely by rhizomes or stolons. The root pattern is rhizomatous with underground stems sending roots and shoots along their length.

Propagating it: Seed - surface sow as soon as it is ripe in a greenhouse at about 20°c. Do not allow the compost to dry out. Germination usually takes place fairly quickly so long as the seed is of good quality, though it can take 3 - 6 months. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a lightly shaded place in the greenhouse until large enough to plant out. Bamboos only flower at intervals of several years and so seed is rarely available. Division in late spring as new growth commences. Take divisions with at least three canes in the clump, trying to cause as little root disturbance to the main plant as possible. Grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse in pots of a high fertility sandy medium. Mist the foliage regularly until plants are established. Plant them out into their permanent positions when a good root system has developed, which can take a year or more. Rhizome cuttings. Basal cane cuttings.

Best place to grow: Woodland Garden Sunny Edge; Dappled Shade; Shady Edge;

Habit: Bamboo

Hardiness: 5-9

Growth:

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: Semi-shade, no shade

Moisture: Moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Canebrake bamboo, Cane reed, Giant cane, Giant cane bamboo.

Synonyms

A. macrosperma. Arundo gigantea. Bambusa newmanii.