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''Arundinaria gigantea'' is a species of bamboo known by the common names giant cane (not to be confused with ''Arundo donax'') and river cane. It is native to the United States, where it occurs in the south-central and southeastern states as far west as Texas and as far north as New York. This species is divided into two subspecies. The subspecies ''tecta'' is sometimes treated as a species in its own right, ''Arundinaria tecta'', and is the taxon generally called switch cane.〔Taylor, Jane E. (2006). (''Arundinaria gigantea'' ). In: Fire Effects Information System, (). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Retrieved 12-12-2011.〕〔(''Arundinaria gigantea''. ) USDA Plants Profile. Retrieved 12-12-2011.〕 It is very similar to ssp. ''gigantea'', but is often smaller and tends to grow in wetter habitat.〔(''Arundinaria gigantea'' and ''A. tecta''. ) Grass Manual Treatment. Retrieved 12-12-2011.〕 This bamboo, which is a species of cane, is a perennial grass with a rounded, hollow stem which can exceed in diameter and grow to a height of . It grows from a large network of thick rhizomes. The lance-shaped leaves are up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) long and wide. The inflorescence is a raceme or panicle of spikelets measuring in length. An individual cane has a lifespan of about 10 years.〔〔 Most reproduction is vegetative as the bamboo sprouts new stems from its rhizome. It rarely produces seeds and it flowers irregularly. Sometimes it flowers gregariously.〔Platt, S. G., et al. (2004). (Observations of flowering cane (''Arundinacea gigantea'') in Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. ) ''Proc Louisiana Acad Sci'' 66 17-25. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 It and other species of ''Arundinaria'' may grow in large monotypic colonies called canebrakes. Canebrakes were once a common feature of the landscape in the southeastern United States, but today it is an endangered ecosystem.〔 This native plant is a member of several plant communities today, generally occurring as a component of the understory or midstory. It grows in pine forests dominated by loblolly, slash, longleaf, and shortleaf pine, and stands of oaks, cypress, ash, and cottonwood. Other plants in the understory include inkberry (''Ilex glabra''), creeping blueberry (''Vaccinium crassifolium''), wax myrtle (''Morella cerifera''), blue huckleberry (''Gaylussacia frondosa''), pineland threeawn (''Aristida stricta''), cutover muhly (''Muhlenbergia expansa''), little bluestem (''Schizachyrium scoparium''), and toothache grass (''Ctenium aromaticum''). Cane communities occur on floodplains, bogs, riparian woods, pine barrens and savannas, and pocosins. It grows easily in flooded and saturated soils.〔 It tolerates wildfire, and canebrakes are maintained by a normal fire regime. Some types of non-native bamboos are easily confused with this native cane.〔(''Arundinaria gigantea''. ) University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 Canebrakes declined after European settlement of the American southeast. Factors involved in the decline include the introduction of livestock such as cattle, which eagerly graze on the leaves. The cane was considered a good forage for the animals until overgrazing began to eliminate canebrake habitat.〔 Other reasons for the decline include the conversion of the land for agriculture,〔Dattilo, A. J. and C. C. Rhoades. (2005). (Establishment of the woody grass ''Arundinaria gigantea'' for riparian restoration. ) ''Restoration Ecology'' 13(4) 616-22.〕 and fire suppression.〔Bugden, J. L., et al. (2011). (Mapping existing and potential river cane (''Arundinaria gigantea'') habitat in western North Carolina. (Report). ) ''Southeastern Geographer''. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 This cane is the food plant for the southern pearly eye, a butterfly.〔 Vanebrake is an important habitat for the Swainson's, hooded, and Kentucky warblers, and the white-eyed vireo. The disappearance of the canebrake ecosystem may have contributed to the rarity and possible extinction of the Bachman's warbler, which was dependent upon it for nesting sites.〔〔(Bachman's Warbler. ) BirdLife International Species Profile. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 There are many human uses for the cane. The Cherokee, particularly the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,〔Valigra, L. (In Cherokee country, reviving a tree's deep roots. ) ''National Geographic News'' (November 7, 2005). Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 used and still use this species in basketry.〔(''Arundinaria gigantea''. ) University of Michigan Ethnobotany. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 The Cherokee historically maintained canebrakes with cutting and periodic burning, a practice which stopped with the European settlement of the land.〔 The elimination of cane habitat has nearly resulted in the loss of the art of basketmaking,〔 〔(WCU helps Cherokee artists harvest natural materials. ) Western Carolina University Office of Public Relations. (November 6, 2008). Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 which is important for the economy of the Cherokee today.〔(Preserving the past: A guide for North Carolina landowners. ) North Carolina Cooperative Extension. Retrieved 12-13-2011.〕 The cane was also used by groups such as the Cherokee, Seminole, and Choctaw to make medicine, blowguns, bows and arrows, knives, spears, flutes, candles, walls for dwellings,〔 fish traps, sleeping mats, and tobacco pipes.〔 ==References== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arundinaria gigantea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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