Post by mjc on Jun 21, 2017 16:34:08 GMT -5
North America is home to 3 (as of 2006) species of bamboo. The genus Arundinaria consists of these three temperate runners.
A. gigantea: Giant cane. This is the main 'brake' forming species and the one that gets the largest canes.
A. tecta: Switch cane. The medium sized species, can handle wider variety of terrain and even water levels/conditions than either of the others.
A. appalachiana: Hill cane. An 'upland' species that is also the smallest of the three and most recently 'discovered'
Historically, in the southeastern corner of the US, two of the species, Arundinaria gigantea and A. tecta formed large 'canebrakes' along rivers and other lowlands. These were important to both the people and wildlife in the area. As settlements increased/land use became more 'organized' farming these canebrakes decreased in size to becoming nearly extinct.
There's a lot more on the history and what not, than I want to get into...that's not the point of this thread.
What is the point...
1. Arundinaria is very useful, as gigantea can reach heights of 20 to 30 feet with canes over an inch or two in diameter (1.5" is typical), with all the typical bamboo uses, including edible shoots.
2. It's native...which means it's already acclimated/adapted to a considerable portion of the US. And for a running bamboo, it's not too horribly 'invasive'.
3. It's moderately hardy...zone 6 confirmed, probably zone 5 and maybe even z4.
4. It's an 'in thing' right now...so that means it's expensive to buy it. Unfortunately, like most bamboos, seed propagation is spotty, at best. But there are other ways to propagate it.
5. And finally, I want some...of each if possible, but A. gigantea, definitely.
A. gigantea: Giant cane. This is the main 'brake' forming species and the one that gets the largest canes.
A. tecta: Switch cane. The medium sized species, can handle wider variety of terrain and even water levels/conditions than either of the others.
A. appalachiana: Hill cane. An 'upland' species that is also the smallest of the three and most recently 'discovered'
Historically, in the southeastern corner of the US, two of the species, Arundinaria gigantea and A. tecta formed large 'canebrakes' along rivers and other lowlands. These were important to both the people and wildlife in the area. As settlements increased/land use became more 'organized' farming these canebrakes decreased in size to becoming nearly extinct.
There's a lot more on the history and what not, than I want to get into...that's not the point of this thread.
What is the point...
1. Arundinaria is very useful, as gigantea can reach heights of 20 to 30 feet with canes over an inch or two in diameter (1.5" is typical), with all the typical bamboo uses, including edible shoots.
2. It's native...which means it's already acclimated/adapted to a considerable portion of the US. And for a running bamboo, it's not too horribly 'invasive'.
3. It's moderately hardy...zone 6 confirmed, probably zone 5 and maybe even z4.
4. It's an 'in thing' right now...so that means it's expensive to buy it. Unfortunately, like most bamboos, seed propagation is spotty, at best. But there are other ways to propagate it.
5. And finally, I want some...of each if possible, but A. gigantea, definitely.