ORIGIN OF THE STRIPED CANE 



A. D. Shamel, Riverside, Cal. 



JiRUNDO DON AX, Linn, is a tall, 

 /\ reed-like grass with broad, flat 

 1 \. leaves, and large plume-like 

 flowers. It is sometimes called 

 the giant reed, and is often erroneously 

 mistaken for the bamboo to which it is 

 only distantly related. In England the 

 stems are said to attain a height of 8 or 10 

 feet, but in southern California they fre- 

 quently grow 18 or 20 feet high. The 

 stems are sometimes used in making the 

 reeds of the oboe, bagpipes and some 

 other musical instruments. It is said^ to 

 be probable that Arundo Donax is one of 

 the plants alluded to in the Scriptures as 

 the Reed. The canes are long, straight 

 and light, making excellent fishing poles 

 and arrows. The latter quality was of 

 great importance to the warlike Jews 

 after they began to practise archery with 

 effect. The heroes of Homer made 

 their arrows of this reed {Iliad xi), and 

 the tent of Achilles was thatched with 

 its leaves. The canes were also used in 

 making a great variety of u?eful articles 

 including looms, baskets, and fish traps, 

 according to some of the older herbals. 

 At an early date in history this reed 

 was widely grown over the south of 

 Europe, E gypt and other nearby regions. 



In southern California A. Donax is 

 occasionally found in the gardens and 

 grounds of some of the homes but more 

 commonly a striped variety, A. Donax 

 var. variegata is used for ornamental 

 planting. At the foot of Victoria hill, 

 near the writer's home, there is a fine 

 clump of the variegated Arundo Donax. 

 Only one or two plants were originally 

 set out, about 1902, but in a dozen 

 years the plants had spread until they 

 occupied a space of about 200 square 

 feet. The boys in Riverside secure 

 many of their favorite fishing poles 

 from selected canes of these plants. 

 The canes are also very popular with 

 gardeners who use them for staking 

 beans and other climbing plants. Neigh- 

 bors obtain many rootstocks from this 

 group for ornamental planting. In 

 1914 all but a very few of the plants 



^ Treasury of Botany, p. 98. 



were transplanted to other locations, 

 but at the present time, three years 

 later, the group has been partly re- 

 grown from the few rootstocks left in 

 the ground. 



The canes of this variety are small, 

 usually not more than about one-half 

 inch in diameter, are comparatively 

 uniform in thickness from base to 

 tip, and frequently attain a length of 

 from 12 to 15 feet. The leaves, are 

 ntimerous, cordate-clasping and hairy 

 at the base, about 2 inches wide and 

 from 15 inches to 2 feet in length. The 

 leaves are striped, usually alternately 

 green and white, giving the groups of 

 plants a striking and beautiful appear- 

 ance. 



On a recent examination of the 

 Victoria hill group of variegated plants, 

 the writer noticed that some of the canes 

 possessed leaves that were not varie- 

 gated. On further study some varie- 

 gated canes were found to have one or 

 more sections bearing green leaves as 

 shown in Fig. 13. In some cases green 

 and variegated canes grow from dif- 

 ferent buds on the same rootstock. 



Observation of variegated plants in 

 this and other locations reveals the fact 

 that the amount of white color, i. e., 

 the width and arrangement of the white 

 stripes in comparison with the green 

 stripes, varies greatly in different plants 

 and sometimes on the same plant. 

 Some plants have leaves in which the 

 white stripes are several times as broad 

 as the green ones, while in others the 

 reverse condition prevails. 



Inquiry has brought out the fact 

 that several strains of the variegated 

 canes have been isolated through the 

 selection of offshoots. In other words 

 the strains have originated as bud 

 variations and have been propagated 

 through bud selection. 



The variegated bud sports probably 

 must have occurred in A. Donax for 

 hundreds of years. In Green's and 

 other old herbals mention is made of the 

 variegated or striped varieties. 



471 



