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Arundinaria tecta

(Walt.) Muhl.

Switch Cane

G5Secure Found in 5 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

UnknownThreat Impact

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.151300

Element CodePMPOA0P012

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumAnthophyta

ClassMonocotyledoneae

OrderCyperales

FamilyPoaceae

GenusArundinaria

Synonyms

Arundinaria gigantea ssp. tecta(Walt.) McClure

Other Common Names

Mutton Grass (EN) Small Cane (EN) switchcane (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Taxonomic Comments

Plants in Mississippi, Louisiana, and possibly southern Alabama represent introgression of Arundinaria tecta and A. gigantea (Weakley, pers. comm., 2024).

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2024-02-09

Change Date2000-10-22

Edition Date2024-02-12

Edition AuthorsSE Ranking Workshop (2024)

Threat ImpactUnknown

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences> 300

Rank Reasons

Arundinaria tecta is a long-lived perennial grass endemic to the southeastern United States from Maryland south to central peninsular Florida and west to southeastern, predominantly in the Coastal Plain and extending into the Piedmont. It can be locally common and grows in a variety of wet, savanna or woodland habitats. This species can form large colonies from rhizomes and is likely fire-dependent to induce flowering. Fire suppression and habitat conversion are likely the biggest threats to this species, though browsing, invasive species, and hybridization are also threats.

Range Extent Comments

Arundinaria tecta occurs primarily in the southeastern Coastal Plain and extending to the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain and also the Piedmont from Maryland south to central peninsular Florida and west to southeastern Louisiana and western Tennessee in the southeastern United States (Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023).

Occurrences Comments

By applying a 1 km separation distance to herbarium specimen data, photo-based observation data, and NatureServe Network observation data documented between the years of 1993 and 2023, it is estimated that there are at least 677 extant occurrences known (iNaturalist 2023, NatureServe 2023, SEINet 2023).

Threat Impact Comments

Arundinaria tecta is threatened by development, habitat conversion, fire suppression, cattle, feral hogs, invasive species, and hybridization, though there is insufficient data, including anecdotal accounts, to understand scope and severity of threats for this species. Fire suppression throughout this species's habitat has led to increased competition from woody species and a decline in light availability (Gray et al. 2016). Cattle and hogs eat the grass, and hogs also cause damage by rooting.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Arundinaria tecta grows in "pine savannas, pocosins, canebrakes, blackwater swamps" in the Coastal Plain and "Piedmont seeps, generally (but not solely) in wetlands" (Weakley and the Southeastern Flora Team 2023). Communities in the Sandhills Physiographic Region of the Coastal Plain "are characterized by acidic, low-nutrient, sand- and clay-based soils" (Gray et al. 2016). Habitats of A. tecta tend to be moister than A. gigantea (Triplett et al. 2006).

Ecology

This species "is a larval food plant for several species of butterflies and moths including the Southern Pearly Eye (Enodia portlandia), Creole Pearly Eye (Enodia creola), Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aesculapius), Reversed Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes reversa), and Carolina Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes carolina)" (Keener et al. 2024).

Reproduction

This species is "presumed to be wind-pollinated and probably have mechanisms to facilitate outcrossing, including stigmas that develop after pollen is shed (Judziewicz et al.1999). Typically in woody bamboos, the flowering period extends over several months, providing ample opportunity for wind pollination. Like other bamboos, Arundinaria reproduces extensively by rhizomes" (Triplett et al. 2010). This species "may flower as frequently as every 4 - 7 years" (Triplett et al. 2010).

Terrestrial Habitats

Woodland - HardwoodWoodland - MixedGrassland/herbaceous

Palustrine Habitats

HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLAND

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
South Carolina	S5	Yes
Virginia	S5	Yes
Louisiana	SNR	Yes
Alabama	SNR	Yes
Maryland	S2	Yes
Georgia	SNR	Yes
Tennessee	S1	Yes
North Carolina	S5	Yes
Florida	S4	Yes
Mississippi	SNR	Yes
New Jersey	SNA	No

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
Unknown/undetermined	—	—	—

Plant Characteristics

DurationPERENNIAL, Long-lived

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (5)

Florida (2)

Area	Forest	Acres
Alexander Springs Creek	Ocala National Forest	2,954
Savannah	Apalachicola National Forest	1,927

North Carolina (3)

Area	Forest	Acres
Catfish Lake North	Croatan National Forest	11,299
Pond Pine B	Croatan National Forest	2,961
Sheep Ridge Addition	Croatan National Forest	5,808

References (13)

Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 2007a. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 24. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, part 1. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xxviii + 911 pp.
Gray, J.B., Sorrie, B.A., and Wall, W. 2016. Canebrakes of the Sandhills Region of the Carolinas and Georgia: fire history, canebrake area, and species frequency. Castanea 81(4): 280-291.
iNaturalist. 2023. Online. Available: https://www.inaturalist.org (accessed 2023).
Judziewicz, E.J., L.G. Clark, X. Londono, and M.J. Stern. 1999. American bamboos. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., USA.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Keener, B.R., A.R. Diamond, T.W. Barger, L.J. Davenport, P.G. Davison, S.L. Ginzbarg, C.J. Hansen, D.D. Spaulding, J.K. Triplett, and M. Woods. 2024. Alabama Plant Atlas. [S.M. Landry and K.N. Campbell (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research. University of South Florida]. University of West Alabama, Livingston, Alabama.
NatureServe. 2023. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia.
Noss, R.F., E.T. LaRoe III, and J.M. Scott. 1995. Endangered ecosystems of the United States: a preliminary assessment of loss and degradation. U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division (National Biological Service), Biological Survey Report no. 9501, Washington, DC.
Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet). 2023. Collections Databases. Online. Available: https://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/collections/index.php (accessed 2023).
Triplett, J. K., A. S. Weakley, and L. G. Clark. 2006. Hill cane (<i>Arundinaria appalachiana</i>), a new species of bamboo (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) from the southern Appalachian Mountains. Sida 22(1): 79-95.
Triplett, J.K., Oltrogge, K.A., and Clark, L.G. 2010. Phylogenetic relationships and natural hybridization among the North American woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: <i>Arundinaria</i>). American Journal of Botany 97(3): 471-492.
Weakley, Alan S. Personal Communication. Director. UNC Herbarium, North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, N.C.
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2023. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of April 14, 2023. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2105 pp.

Arundinaria tecta

Habitat

Ecology

Reproduction

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