Arundinaria
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| Flowering specimen in northern Florida in March 2003 | |
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| Genus: | Arundinaria |
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Arundinaria, commonly known as the canes, is the sole genus of bamboo native to eastern North America. The genus is endemic to the eastern United States from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Ohio and Texas. Within this region they are found from the Coastal Plain to medium elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Its members have running rhizomes and are woody and tree-like, attaining heights from 0.5 up to 8 metres. They produce seeds only rarely and usually reproduce vegetatively instead. After production of seed, the colony usually dies. Among the distinctive features of the canes is a fan-like cluster of leaves at the top of new stems called a top knot. Early explorers in the US described vast stands of Arundinaria called canebrakes that were especially common in river lowlands, but these have declined significantly due to clearing, farming and fire suppression.[1][2]
Systematics
Plants currently treated in the genus Arundinaria were first described scientifically by Thomas Walter in his 1788 work Flora Caroliniana. However, Walter did not recognise the canes as bamboo, and instead placed them in the superficially similar, but only distantly related grass genus Arundo. He described two species: Arundo gigantea Walt. and Arundo tecta Walt.. In 1803, the French botanist André Michaux, unaware of the Flora prepared by Walter, also published a description of the canes he encountered. Michaux recognised only one species, but created a new monotypic genus for it: Arundinaria macrosperma Michx.. A decade later in 1813, G.H.E. Muhlenberg noticed the affinities between the two previous authors' work and transferred Walter's two species to Michaux's new genus, yielding a combinatio nova for each, namely Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Michx. and Arundinaria tecta (Walt.) Michx.. Muhlenberg considered the genus to consist of these two species in addition to Arundinaria macrosperma Michx.. Walter designated no type specimens, and his Latin protologues, which describe the species, conflict with current concepts of species boundaries.[3]
The scientific name is derived from the Latin word arundo meaning "reed".[1]
The genus is the subject of much taxonomic debate and the number of species included varies depending on the treatment. It is currently most commonly treated in a sensu stricto, making it an exclusively North American genus with 3 species. Other interpretations include a number of Old World genera such as Bashania, Oligostachyum and Sarocalamus. Older systems included the large genera Fargesia and Sasa, giving the genus upwards of 400 species. When Asian taxa are included it is the only bamboo genus to occur in both the Old and New Worlds. [2][1][4]
Use
Arundinaria gigantea (also called "river cane") has historically been used to construct Native American flutes, particularly among tribes of the Eastern Woodlands such as the Cherokee. River cane flutes were formerly found from the Eastern Seaboard to Oklahoma.
The Cherokee and other Southeastern tribes also used this material for the weaving of baskets.[5]
References
- ^ a b c Clark, Lynn G.; Triplett, J.K. (2006), "Arundinaria", in Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+ (ed.), Flora of North America, vol. 25, New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, retrieved 2007-07-14
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: editors list (link) - ^ a b Triplett, J.K.; Weakley, A.S.; Clark, L.G. (2006), "Hill cane (Arundinaria appalachiana), a new species of bamboo (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains" (PDF), Sida, 22 (1): 79–95, retrieved 2007-07-14
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Triplett, Jimmy K.; Clark, Lynn G. (2009), "Towards a stable nomenclature for the North American temperate bamboos: epitypification of Arundo gigantea Walt. and Arundinaria macrosperma Michx. (Poaceae)", Castanea, 74 (3): 207–212
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Zhu, Zheng-de; De-zhu, Li; Stapleton, Chris (2007), "Arundinaria", in Wu, Z. Y.; Raven, P.H.; Hong, D.Y. (ed.), Flora of China, vol. 22, Beijing: Science Press; St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press, p. 112, retrieved 2007-07-15
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Mason, Otis T. Basket-Work of the North American Aborigines. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1890. Plate LIII. Fig. 89.