Feature - Native Bamboo Study

Updated 08/25/2008

The Jamie L. Whitten Plant Materials Center (MSPMC) in Coffeeville, Mississippi, joined a cooperative study to improve establishment methods for native bamboo (Arundinaria gigantea) in the southeast.  Dr. Brian Baldwin, an Associate Professor of the Plant & Soil Sciences division at Mississippi State University in Starkville, and Margaret Cirtain, a graduate student from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, share the same objective: to restore extensive colonies of native bamboo commonly known as "canebrakes".

Before European settlement, canebrakes once flourished along water courses and in the floodplains throughout the southeast. They created dense zones that helped curb soil erosion and flood damage, while providing a necessary habitat to a diverse assembly of wildlife, amphibians, and several rare plant species. Due to overgrazing, clearing for agricultural purposes, and urbanization, by the middle of the 20th century, most of the large colonies of native bamboo became nonexistent. They are now considered to be a critically endangered ecosystem that has led to the demise of several federally listed species such as the Bachman’s/Swainson’s warbler and the American black bear.

In 2001, MSPMC attempted to propagate native bamboo for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in an effort to restore their declining stands. Culturally known as "swamp cane" to the Choctaw tribe, native bamboo is used for their basketry that were originally used for utilitarian purposes and are now prized works of art and emblems of their heritage. Field propagation of two species Arundianria gigantea and its smaller form (ssp. tecta) were unsuccessful; however, greenhouse production using three different growth media: perlite, 1:1 (v/v, perlite/peat moss, and Pro-Mix BX commercial potting soil proved to be a feasible method with a 90% success rate.

Currently, a combination of field and greenhouse production is being studied at the center. Dr. Baldwin provided us with year-old plants that were taken from an older stand in Oktoc, MS in March 2006. Propagules with 1-2 inch rhizomes sections were planted in flats and treated with plant hormones to stimulate sprouting. By August, the plants were transplanted in 3 inch pots and a combination of fertilizers were applied to measure growth variations (base fertilizer, base fertilizer + nitrate, base fertilizer + phosphate, & base fertilizer + nitrate & phosphate).

In late March of this year, we transplanted Dr. Baldwin’s stands on two different sites. One is a well drained, gentle slope (8%), facing west that receives full sun. The other is a bottom site that occasionally floods and receives partial sun. Despite the unusually dry weather, most of them have survived.

Margaret Cirtain’s greenhouse study did not achieve successful results. In mid-March of this year, several culms without rhizomes were planted in a sand medium that was treated with a combination of phytohormones to stimulate new growth from the shoot nodes. Normally, sprouting would occur by May. Mrs. Cirtain speculates that late establishment in the dormant growth period could have been the main reason why these plants did not germinate by late spring. In previous studies, propagation had better success when planted earlier in the dormant season (Nov-Feb).

Whether the motive is to restore canebrakes for a variety of conservation efforts or to maintain it’s existence for cultural practices, finding an efficient method for native bamboo production has been a long-term goal here at the center.

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