Arundinaria tecta
Arundinaria
switch cane
cane
normally horizontal for only a short distance before turning up to form a culm, hollow-centered, air canals present.
leaves: abaxial ligules fimbriate to lacerate, sometimes ciliate;
blades 7-23 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, coriaceous, persistent, evergreen, bases rounded, abaxial surfaces densely pubescent or glabrous, strongly cross veined, adaxial surfaces pubescent.
leaves: sheaths persistent on the lower branch nodes;
auricles usually present;
fimbriae to 10 mm;
blades finely cross veined abaxially, acuminate, blades of the ultimate branchlets often smaller, crowded into flabellate clusters of 3-7 leaves.
open racemes or panicles;
disarticulation below and between the florets.
3-5 cm, with 6-12 florets, the first occasionally sterile.
3-7 cm, with 6-12 florets, basal floret occasionally sterile, laterally compressed.
unequal, glabrous or pubescent;
lowest glume obtuse to acuminate or absent;
lemmas 1.2-2 cm, glabrous or nearly so.
1-2, shorter than the lowest lemmas;
lemmas to 2 cm, sometimes awned, awns about 4 mm;
anthers 3;
styles 3;
paleas 2-keeled, not exceeding the lemmas, x = 12.
oblong, beaked, a rudimentary hooked style branch present below the beak.
leaves persistent to tardily deciduous;
sheaths 11-18 cm;
fimbriae 1.5-8.5 mm;
blades 2.5-4 cm.
leaves: sheaths persistent or deciduous, mostly glabrous, abaxial surfaces sparsely pilose towards the margins and apices, margins ciliate;
auricles usually present;
blades erect or becoming reflexed, narrowly triangular to strap-shaped, abaxial surfaces sparsely pilose;
leaves at tips of new shoots crowded into distinctive fan-shaped clusters or topknots, blades expanded as on the foliage leaves.
of 9-12 leaves;
blades 20-30 cm long, 1.8-3.2 cm wide, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate.
branches usually 50+ cm, basally erect and distally arcuate, terete, with 3-4 compressed basal internodes, basal nodes developing secondary branches, lower elongated internodes terete in cross section.
complements of 1 primary branch and 0-2 subequal secondary branches on young culms, rebranching to produce to 40+ secondary branches on older culms.
= unknown.
Arundinaria tecta
Arundinaria
Arundinaria tecta grows in swampy woods, moist pine barrens, live oak woods, and along the sandy margins of streams, preferring moister sites than A. gigantea. It grows only on the coastal plain of the southeastern United States.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Arundinaria is a north-temperate genus with three native North American species. The most consistent differences among the North American species are seen in the vegetative characters, including the topknot leaf blades, foliage leaf blades, and features of the branch complements.
Arundinaria is sometimes taken as including several Asian species. Genera that used to be treated in Arundinaria include, for example, Fargesia Franch. and Sasa Makino & Shibata.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Primary branches with 0-1 compressed basal internodes; culm internodes usually sulcate; culm leaves deciduous | A. gigantea |
1. Primary branches with 2-5 compressed basal internodes; culm internodes usually terete; culm leaves persistent to tardily deciduous. | → 2 |
2. Foliage blades coriaceous, persistent, abaxial surfaces densely pubescent or glabrous, strongly cross veined; primary branches usually longer than 50 cm, basal nodes developing secondary branches; topknot blades 20-30 cm long | A. tecta |
2. Foliage blades chartaceous, deciduous, abaxial surfaces pilose or glabrous, weakly cross veined; primary branches usually shorter than 35 cm, basal nodes not developing secondary branches; topknot blades 9-22.5 cm long | A. appalachiana |
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
MO Plants
