Shrub · Poaceae
Giant cane
Arundinaria gigantea
Giant cane is recorded as native to 19 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 708 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Giant cane at a glance
- Native in
- 708 counties, across 19 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 25 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Giant cane is recorded as native to 19 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 708 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 708 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 66 counties
- Arkansas 75 counties
- Florida 28 counties
- Georgia 39 counties
- Illinois 26 counties
- Indiana 12 counties
- Kentucky 87 counties
- Louisiana 57 counties
- Maryland 6 counties
- Mississippi 64 counties
- Missouri 22 counties
- North Carolina 66 counties
- Ohio 4 counties
- Oklahoma 20 counties
- South Carolina 33 counties
- Tennessee 55 counties
- Texas 28 counties
- Virginia 11 counties
- West Virginia 9 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Graminoid, Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 25 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 100 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 6.9
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 18 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Not recorded
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Not recorded
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Poaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARGI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Arundinaria gigantea (PLANTS symbol ARGI).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources