Cane is a native, woody, perennial, rhizomatous grass. Unlike most other grasses, cane possesses evergreen stems which survive for up to 10 years.
Reproduction is primarily vegetative from robust rhizomes.
Pocosins represent the lower limit of site quality tolerated by cane. Cane is usually intermixed with shrubs, but in more favorable situations, often forms dense stands or breaks. Brakes composed of large cane occur in fertile, alluvial river bottoms sufficiently elevated so that flooding is of short duration. Cane does not spread rapidly into either early or late successional forest types.