About

Arundinaria is a genus of bamboo in the grass family, the members of which are referred to generally as cane. Arundinaria is the only bamboo native to North America, with a native range from Maryland south to Florida and west to the southern Ohio Valley and Texas.

Within this region Arundinaria cane is found from the Coastal Plain to medium elevations in the Appalachian Mountains.

Uses

Ethnobotanists consider cane to have been extremely important to Native Americans in the Southeastern Woodlands before European colonisation. The river cane basketry art is at minimum 3000 years old, and can arguably be considered "the most difficult and complex of weaving technologies." The plant was used to make structures, arrow shafts, weapons, torches, fishing equipment, jewelry, baskets, musical instruments, furniture, boats, pipe stems, and medicines. Arundinaria gigantea, or river cane, has historically been used to construct Native American flutes, particularly among tribes of the Eastern Woodlands. The Atakapa, Catawba, Muscogee Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Cherokee, and other Southeastern tribes have traditionally used this material for mat and basket weaving, and the Chitimacha and Eastern Band Cherokee still widely weave with rivercane today, though basket makers have started making smaller baskets in order to use less material and preserve the increasingly rare river cane. Bean poles made from dried canes can last for several years if properly stored when not in use.

Other Arundinaria plants

Giant cane