Cob: slab .. was Introduction

[Haugland, John]

Helpful responses from all. Thanks. It sets my mind more at ease if
bamboo has been cultivated for many decades and is not in the news by
now as an invasive pest (like kudzu or purple loosestrife).

John 

-----Original Message-----
From: Amanda Peck [mailto:ap615 at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 8:48 PM
To: Haugland, John; coblist at deatech.com
Subject: RE: Cob: slab .. was Introduction


I'm not Darel, but the native eastern cane species are pretty tiny.
Even 
the one called "Arundinaria gigantea" is pretty durned small, usually
not 
over 6-8 feet tall, even if this site swears it CAN grow to 25.  There's

another one as well, I think it's the slightly smaller.  If you're
running 
into anything much larger, it's probably an old import.  Bamboos (not as
bad 
as kudzu) have been imported since at least the 1880's.  I grew up with
a 
bamboo grove nearby.  I've never quite figured out what it was, but big 
culms were about 3" in diameter, and my mother used to keep what we
wanted 
to keep in grass bamboo-free by picking the young shoots, slicing,
blanching 
and freezing them, then adding them to stir-fries all year.

http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/arugig.html

Even the native species turn up on invasive pest species lists.  A good
deal 
of Wayne County Tennessee was in cane brake when the first white
settlers 
wandered in.

..........................
John Haugland wrote:
Hi Darel:
Do the canes native to the southern US perform as well as bamboo, so we
can encourage a more local economy here and not have to import/grow an
exotic species from SE Asia?

John

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