Arundina graminifolia (D.Don) Hochr., Orchidaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: bamboo orchid

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Tufted terrestrial herbs 10-25 dm tall, arising from short horizontal rhizomes; stems usually crowded together, completely enclosed by a series of persistent sheathing leaf bases.  Leaves firm, grass-like, linear-lanceolate, 8-30 cm long, 0.5-1.5 (-2) cm wide, midrib impressed on upper surface, conspicuously raised on lower surface, margins entire, sheaths 2-4 cm long.  Flowers in terminal, racemose or paniculate inflorescences 10-70 cm long, peduncles slender, dark green or reddish purple, glabrous, bracts erect, broadly ovate, 3-7 mm long; sepals plae pink to rose, the dorsal one ascending, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, 3-4.5 cm long, ventral sepals appressed to surface of labellum, elliptic, 3-4.5 cm long; lateral petals similar in color to sepals, spreading or reflexed horizontally, broadly elliptic to obovate, 2.5-3.8 cm long; labellum pale to dark reddish purple, ± with yellow markings on the throat, 4-5 cm long, entire or weakly 3-lobed, middle lobe undulate, deeply cleft, margins irregularly crenate.  Capsules pendent, cylindrical, 6-ribbed, 3.5-5.5 cm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1471).

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and sometimes locally common in disturbed, mesic to wet forest, and as a pioneer on lava fields, 75-920 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1471).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southeastern Asia, India, Malesia, and a number of Pacific islands (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1471). "India, southern China, southeastern Asia, and Malesia as far as Celebes. The species is widely cultivated and has become naturalized in parts of the Pacific" (Smith, 1991; p. 402).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cook Islands Cook Islands	Cook Islands	introduced cultivated	McCormack, Gerald (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1991) (pp. 402-403) Vouchers cited: DA 16709, DA 12294 Sparsely naturalized.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1979) (p. 116)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1471)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1471)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1471) East Maui.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. (2000) (p. 7) West Maui. Vouchers cited: Oppenheimer H119812 (BISH), Oppenheimer H89910 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1471)
Marshall Islands Ratak Chain	Majuro (Mãjro) Atoll	introduced cultivated	Vander Velde, Nancy (2003) (p. 45) Rare.

Additional information:
Information from Plants of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Additional online information about Arundina graminifolia is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Arundina graminifolia as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Arundina graminifolia may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1979. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian dicotyledonae. Micronesica 15:1-295.

McCormack, Gerald. 2008. Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga.

Oppenheimer, Hank L./Bartlett, R. T. 2000. New plant records from Maui, O‘ahu, and the Hawai‘i Islands. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 64:1-10.

Smith, Albert C. 1991. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 5. 626 pp.

Vander Velde, Nancy. 2003. The vascular plants of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. Smithsonian Institution, Atoll Research Bulletin No. 503:1-141.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).