Rivercane: Our Native Bamboo

By Hannah Harkness, NCRN I&M Science Communications Intern

Rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea)

NPS

Overview

Walking near a stream, you see something you think is a non-native bamboo. But take a closer look. Is it native? Odds are it’s not, but it’s wise to check. “Native bamboo” may sound like an oxymoron, but it's real. Most people call it rivercane.

Rivercane (genus Arundinaria) is a woody grass native to floodplains of the southeastern US, extending up into the National Capital Region (NCR). Once a wide-ranging species, rivercane provides important wildlife habitat and holds cultural significance to many Indigenous peoples.

A Woven Cultural History

Rivercane is an important material for basket making and other traditional tribal arts, and it appears on the Cherokee Nation’s list of Culturally Protected Species. Basket making is still performed in many communities but has become more challenging as rivercane populations have dwindled and become more fragmented.

A Cherokee lidded rivercane basket collected in South Carolina in the 1720s. These baskets continue to be used by the Cherokee peoples for gathering, storage, and food preparation.

© The Trustees of the British Museum

In an effort to help restore rivercane populations, tribal nations and federal agencies are working together through partnerships in the southeast like the Rivercane Restoration Alliance to help incorporate Indigenous knowledge into rivercane conservation.

Historically, Indigenous peoples helped to foster rivercane ecosystems through the use of fire and other practices, which prevented forests from encroaching on grassy habitats.

Canebrake Habitat

Canebrake habitat.

NCSU Cooperative Extension

Rivercane is one of four native North American woody grasses in the Arundinaria genus. The most common are rivercane (Arundinaria gigantea, aka giant rivercane or giant cane) and switchcane (Arundinaria tecta). Two other species are more geographically limited. A. appalachiana is limited to the southern Appalachian Mountains in dry or temperate habitats and A. alabamensis to northeastern Alabama.

Historically, rivercane could be found from New York down to Florida, and as far west as Ohio across to Texas. Rivercane now occupies only 2% of its former extent in the US. This perennial species can grow to over 20 feet tall and can typically be found in sunny areas along the banks of rivers and streams.

Dense clusters of rivercane are referred to as canebrakes. Canebrakes are valuable components of marshland systems that help protect water quality and prevent erosion by stabilizing soils along the banks of waterways. They also provide habitat for lots of wildlife including deer, reptiles, small rodents, and birds. The loss of historic canebrake habitat may have played a role in the extinction of Bachman’s warbler. Canebrakes were once nesting and breeding sites for these songbirds.

Rivercane reproduces by underground lateral spreading plant stems called rhizomes. This type of asexual reproduction means that patches of rivercane can be made up of plants that are genetically identical “clones”! The complex network of rivercane rhizomes helps to store large amounts of carbon and holds soil against erosion.

Tribal ethnobotanist and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians member Roger Cain stands in front of a canebrake at the 2023 Rivercane Gathering in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

US Forest Service/ Michelle Baumflek

Distinguishing Rivercane from Non-Native Bamboo

While it can be difficult to distinguish rivercane from non-native bamboo, there are several features you can look for:

• Rivercane stems are typically smaller than one inch in diameter, which is narrower than most non-native bamboo.

• Branches on woody grasses grow from rings on the stem called nodes. Rivercane branches tend to appear tangled at the nodes. Non-native bamboos have straighter and more slender branches.

• Rivercane branches are vertical, parallel to their stem, while non-native bamboos have branches that grow outward from a node at a 45-degree angle.

Left: Rivercane branches are often tangled and grow parallel to the stem.
Right: Nonnative bamboo branches emerge away from the stem at a 45-degree angle.

Left: NCSU Cooperative Extension, Right: NCSU/ Forest & Kim Starr CC BY 3.0

Archeologist Charles LeeDecker, in a series on the history of DC's National Mall and Monumental Core reports that canebrakes formed on accumulating sediment in the Potomac River's Washington Channel in 1841.

Other historic observations of rivercane have been documented in NCR at: Piscataway Park (part of National Capital Parks-East), George Washington Memorial Parkway, and Rock Creek Park (see NPSpecies). The observation from Rock Creek Park has not been relocated since it was originally documented in 2005.

If you think you may have spotted rivercane, report it to park staff. You can also report observations on iNaturalist.

Tips for making a good observation on iNaturalist

Take photographs that show:

• The landscape around the plant—this shows the habitat
• Both the stem and leaves of the plant

Make comments that:

• Provide the location or landmark, or which direction from a trail or path
• Give a rough estimate of the number of plants and the area covered or any other comments you think might be helpful

Protecting Rivercane

Rivercane populations survive in smaller and more infrequent fragmented patches than they used to. Urbanization, land conversions due to agriculture, and overgrazing from livestock have contributed to rivercane decline. The National Park Service (NPS) has long recognized the need for canebrake conservation, and more work will need to be done to help restore these unique habitats. This includes reducing pollution and human impact, and avoiding planting of nonnative bamboos and other nonnative plants that might overtake areas preferred by rivercane.

Rivercane has historically responded well in environments treated with fire, a common practice used by Indigenous communities. Canebrakes are fire-dependent ecosystems, and though rivercane itself is highly fire prone, it is adapted to fire by resprouting quickly from underground rhizomes. The careful use of prescribed fire could help to maintain rivercane populations and prevent colonization by invasive species.

In 2023, the US Forest Service co-hosted a meeting with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians along with many other Tribal communities called the Rivercane Gathering, to discuss rivercane. (The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes in the United States). This meeting helped identify and address “knowledge gaps” in current approaches to rivercane restoration.

While rare in the NCR, rivercane is more common in the southeast. Several southeastern parks, including Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Georgia, are working to restore rivercane in its native wetlands. Indigenous knowledge will likely continue to play a pivotal role in helping to restore this vulnerable habitat.

Further Reading

• Anderson, K.M., and T. Oakes. 2012. USDA. Giant Cane.
• Farmer, Sarah. 2023. US Forest Service. Working With Tribes to Sustain a Cherished Plant.
• Griffith, Adam. 2023. N.C. Cooperative Extension. What is Rivercane and Why is it Important?
• Hendershott, A.J. 2002. Missouri Department of Conservation. Canebrakes: Missouri’s Bamboo Forests.
• NPS, Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park. 2021. Rivercane Restoration.
• Remsen, J.V. 1986. Was Bachman’s Warbler a Bamboo Specialist? The Auk.
• Smith, Kevin E. 2021. Tennessee Conservationist. Canebrakes on the Cumberland: A Thousand Year Story of a Vanishing Ecosystem.
• USDA. Fire Effects Information System: Arundinaria gigantea.
• West, L., Quan, A., Byram, J. 2023. Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy. Integrating rivercane as Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the Southeast Conservation Blueprint.