Hill Cane
Arundinaria appalachiana
Found in dry to moist forests on slopes. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- Up to about 6 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).
Spread and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 6 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Arundinaria
- Amblyscirtes aesculapiusLace-Winged Roadside-Skipper, Cobweb Little Skipper
- Amblyscirtes carolinaCarolina Roadside-Skipper
- Amblyscirtes reversaReversed Roadside-Skipper
- Anatrytone loganDelaware Skipper, Logan Skipper, Black-Vein Skipper
- Argillophora furcillaForked Halter Moth
- Crocidophora pustuliferalisScalloped Crocidophora
- Lerema acciusClouded Skipper, Corn Leaf tier
- Lethe creolaCreole Pearly Eye
- Lethe portlandiaSouthern Pearly Eye
- Poanes yehlYehl Skipper
Show all 12
- Franclemontia interrogans
- Protapamea danieli
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Arundinaria
- Phasianus colchicusRing-necked Pheasant
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Flower color
- Red or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Red or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 6 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications

