Rivercane is a large grass native to the southeastern US and is technically a bamboo.  For centuries, people indigenous to the southeastern US used rivercane for items such as fishing creels, blowguns, baskets, mats, building materials, and more.  When rivercane grows densely enough, it shades out other plants and can become the only species growing in an area. This is called a canebrake.  Unlike non-native bamboos, however, rivercane seldom reaches heights of more than 20 feet and stem diameters of more than one inch. Rivercane, sometimes called giant cane, is Arundinaria gigantea and one of the three bamboos native to the United States.

Rivercane is important not only culturally, but environmentally too.  Canebrakes provide habitat for a wide variety of animals large and small from deer and bears to moles, voles, shrews, mice, raccoons, and birds.  The dense network of underground stems, called rhizomes, stabilize stream banks and reduce erosion during floods.  The plant is also evergreen allowing it to absorb energy from the sun all year.