New American Bamboo

Researchers have discovered a new species of North American bamboo in the hills of Appalachia. It is the third known native species of the hardy grass. The other two were discovered more than 200 years ago.

"Hill cane," (Arundinaria appalachiana) differs from the other two native North American bamboo species--commonly known as switch cane and river cane--in an important way: It drops its leaves in the fall.

"That's why it was recognized locally as being different," said Lynn Clark, a researcher from Iowa State University. "It's pretty uncommon for bamboos to drop their leaves."

"All the other new ones came from Central and South America," she said. "It's so exciting to find a new species in our own backyard!"

There are 1400 known species of bamboo. Of those, about 900 are tropical and 500 are temperate. The bamboos of North America are found in the Eastern and Southeastern United States, from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Texas.

"Most people have no idea that we have native bamboo in the U.S.," Clark said. "But it has been a very important plant ecologically. And there's recent interest in using it for re-vegetation projects because it's native and was used for habitat by so many different animals, especially birds."

---LiveScience Staff

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Credit: J. Triplett