Arundinaria gigantea: Cane [river cane, American bamboo].

Family: Poaceae [grasses], in subfamily Bambusoideae [bamboos and allies]; part of the graminoid group.

Form: woody grass with colonial rhizomes; shoots reach maximum height (5-20 ft) in first summer, then make branches for 5-10 years.

Range: southeastern USA; widespread across Kentucky on lowlands and unusually fertile uplands, especially central/eastern Bluegrass.

Habitat: usually thin woods/thickets on moist fertile lowlands; much on browsed/burned uplands before clearance in 1780-1860.

Consumers: seed rarely produced, much eaten by weevils, birds, small mammals; shoots and leaves relatively palatable to browsing animals, at least seasonally; sometimes with insect or fungal pests.

Growing notes: seeds germinate rapidly when moist, die when dried, lack dormancy; much propagated from well dug/cut divisions.