[RP TownTalk] Arundinaria gigantea

[annelbv]

Does anyone know where to find it?
Thanks

Anne

Arundinaria gigantea and tecta are larval hostplants for several very local species of southern butterflies, so I have spent many years tracking down the stations for this plant genus all over the Coastal Plains of Maryland and Delaware.  Although common in southern Virginia, Arundinaria is very rare in our area, and probably because of this, none of the rare leps have ever showed up here.  Small accumulations of "perhaps" indigenous Arundinaria have been found, and may still occur, in the following Maryland counties west of the Chesapeake: Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Prince Georges, and Charles.  On the Delmarva, one accumulation spot is known in Dorchester Co., and one site has been recorded in Northhampton Co., VA.  There are currently no known sites in Delaware.  Much of this has been documented in a paper by Donnell Redman appearing in Maryland Naturalist around 8-10 years ago.  The largest known concentration in Maryland is in the woodland behind Miami Beach Park in
 Baltimore Co.  I say "perhaps" indigenous above because most of the sites in Maryland for Arundinaria occur near old mill ruins for which I suspect the cane, with its well-known substantial and close-knit root system, was probably used in the 19'th century to stabilize the soil along millraces.  (Invasive Eurasian Phragmites could also perform this function, but it was rare and mostly unknown in the U.S. during this period.)  Since Arundinaria is so rare in Maryland, but common in the South, the old millrace concentrations of it may actually represent introductions of it from the South by knowledgeable millers.  We'll never know for sure.  Although Maryland has had colder temperatures than areas where Arundinaria is more common, it seems to persist in Maryland quite well, but does not spread nearly as quickly as Phragmites or tropical bamboos. 


 







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