Cane are either of two genera of tall, perennial grasses with flexible, woody stalks from the family Poaceae

Poaceae

The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

 that grow throughout the world in wet soils. They are related to and may include species of bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

. The genus Arundo

Arundo

Arundo is a genus of two or three species of cane: stout, perennial grasses from the family Poaceae, native to the Mediterranean region east to India, China and Japan. They grow to 3–6 m tall, occasionally to 10 m, with leaves 30-60 cm long and 3-6 cm broad.- Species :* Arundo...

 is native from the Mediterranean region to the Far East. Arundinaria

Arundinaria

Arundinaria, commonly known as the canes, is the sole genus of bamboo native to South Africa and eastern North America and the only temperate bamboo in North America. The genus is endemic to the eastern United States from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Ohio and Texas...

 is found in the New World. In English, the word "cane" derives from biblical Hebrew Qanah for uses corresponding closely to English; in the Bible it is often translated "reed". Cane commonly grow in large riparian stands known as canebrake

Canebrake

Canebrake is an English noun meaning an area of land with a thick dense growth of cane, sugarcane, exotic bamboo, or similar plant material.Canebrake may also refer to:Places in the United States of America:*Canebrake...

s, found in toponyms throughout the Southern and Far Western United States; they are much like tule

Tule

Schoenoplectus acutus , called tule , common tule, hardstem tule, tule rush, hardstem bulrush, or viscid bulrush, is a giant species of sedge in the plant family Cyperaceae, native to freshwater marshes all over North America...

s, indigenous to wetland margins of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Depending on how flexible they are, different kinds of canes may be fashioned for a variety of purposes, such as tools, walking stick

Walking stick

A walking stick is a device used by many people to facilitate balancing while walking.Walking sticks come in many shapes and sizes, and can be sought by collectors. Some kinds of walking stick may be used by people with disabilities as a crutch...

s, crutches, weapon

Swordstick

A swordstick or cane-sword is a cane incorporating a concealed blade. The term is typically used to describe European weapons from around the 18th century, but similar devices have been used throughout history, notably the Japanese shikomizue and the Ancient Roman dolon.- Popularity :The swordstick...

s, and in corporal punishment

Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...

. Judicial canes

Caning

Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...

 or school canes

Caning

Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...

, used in some countries for legal corporal punishment, must meet particular specifications, such as a high degree of flexibility.

Similar to bamboo, cane historically has been used for many other purposes as well, such as basket

Hamper

A hamper is a primarily British term for a wicker basket, usually large, that is used for the transport of items, often food.In North America, the term generally refers to a household receptacle for clean or dirty clothing, regardless of its composition, i.e...

s, furniture

Caning (furniture)

In the context of furniture, caning is a method of weaving chair seats and other furniture. Caning material is wicker such as cane, or it is derived from the skin of rattan vines native to Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some vines reach 500 feet in length. One of the earliest woven chair...

, boat

Coracle

The coracle is a small, lightweight boat of the sort traditionally used in Wales but also in parts of Western and South Western England, Ireland , and Scotland ; the word is also used of similar boats found in India, Vietnam, Iraq and Tibet...

s, roof

Thatching

Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...

s and wherever stiff, withy sticks can be used to advantage.

Cane in the Bible

In the Bible, cane appears most notably in Ezekiel

Book of Ezekiel

The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

, where it is the measuring rod used on the prophet Ezekiel

Ezekiel

Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...

's visionary temple

Temple in Jerusalem

The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...

, and in Revelation

Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...

, where it is used to measure the New Jerusalem

New Jerusalem

In the book of Ezekiel, the Prophecy of New Jerusalem is Ezekiel's prophetic vision of a city to be established to the south of the Temple Mount that will be inhabited by the twelve tribes of Israel in the...

.

Qana, the Hebrew root of cane, is also used for the beam of a "balance" (Isaiah 46:6), "a staff of reed" (i.e., a walking-stick, Isaiah 36:6 and Ezekiel 29:6), and the "branches" of a candlestick

Candlestick

A candlestick, chamberstick, or candelabrum is a holder for one or more candles, used for illumination, rituals, or decorative purposes. The name 'candlestick' derives from the fact that it is usually tall and stick-shaped.Candlesticks are also called candle holders...

 (Exodus 37:18).

Caning

Thin, flexible "canes", typically made of rattan

Rattan

Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia.- Structure :...

 instead of cane, make ideal implements for administering corporal punishment

Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...

, as when used correctly they can inflict sharp pain without injury. These may be called school canes or judicial canes

Judicial corporal punishment

Judicial corporal punishment refers to the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence by a court of law. The punishment can be flogging, caning, birching, whipping, or strapping...

 depending on size.

In North America, where walking sticks with curved tops are called "canes", but are most often made of wood, "caning" may refer to beating someone with a stick heavier than that used for corporal punishment.

Walking canes

Canes may be finished into walking sticks. In North America, walking sticks typically have tops curved like judicial canes

Caning

Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...

, and even when made of wood, they are called "canes". Thus in 1856, when Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner was an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. An academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War and Reconstruction,...

 of Massachusetts was "caned", he was beaten with a wooden walking cane that splintered.

Aids for the disabled

Canes may be finished as walking sticks to aid the blind and other disabled persons. Currently, such "canes" are normally made of light-weight but sturdy material such as aluminium or high-tech carbon derivatives.

Other uses

Cane may be used for a variety of artistic and practical purposes, such as Indian baskets of North America.

During the 18th and early 19th century, non-commission officers in various European armies could carry a cane to keep the troops in line. When not in use, it was hooked to a cross-belt or a button.

Cane is also used to describe furniture

Caning (furniture)

In the context of furniture, caning is a method of weaving chair seats and other furniture. Caning material is wicker such as cane, or it is derived from the skin of rattan vines native to Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some vines reach 500 feet in length. One of the earliest woven chair...

 made of wicker

Wicker

Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used....

.

Cane is a length of colored and/or patterned glass rod used in caneworking

Caneworking

Caneworking is a glassblowing technique that is used to add intricate patterns and stripes to vessels or other blown glass objects.Cane refers to rods of glass with color; these rods can be simple, containing a single color, or they can be complex and contain many strands of multiple colors in...

, a style of glassblowing

Glassblowing

Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube...

.

Cane in Dancing

Dancing with cane and sticks can be done in both folkloric and cabaret shows. For example, such dances may involve twirling canes overhead and off to the sides, striking the cane on the floor, or balancing them on the head.

See also

• Candy cane
  Candy cane
  A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint or cinnamon; however, it is also made in a variety of other flavors and may be decorated with stripes of different colors and thicknesses...
  
  
• Cane (crutch)
• Cane ethanol
• Caneworking
  Caneworking
  Caneworking is a glassblowing technique that is used to add intricate patterns and stripes to vessels or other blown glass objects.Cane refers to rods of glass with color; these rods can be simple, containing a single color, or they can be complex and contain many strands of multiple colors in...
  
  
• Caning
  Caning
  Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
  
  
• Caning (furniture)
  Caning (furniture)
  In the context of furniture, caning is a method of weaving chair seats and other furniture. Caning material is wicker such as cane, or it is derived from the skin of rattan vines native to Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Some vines reach 500 feet in length. One of the earliest woven chair...
  
  
• Cane gun
  Cane gun
  A cane gun is a walking cane with a hidden gun built into it. Cane guns were used as last-resort emergency weapons. Cane guns now are very rare to find and are mostly in the hands of private collectors and museums...
  
  
• Sugarcane
  Sugarcane
  Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...
  
  
• Swordstick
  Swordstick
  A swordstick or cane-sword is a cane incorporating a concealed blade. The term is typically used to describe European weapons from around the 18th century, but similar devices have been used throughout history, notably the Japanese shikomizue and the Ancient Roman dolon.- Popularity :The swordstick...
  
  

External links

• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Arundo
• Erowid Arundo Donax vault
• Fashionable Walking Canes & Walking Sticks — History of Canes Page Info (reprinted with permission)
• Description of Arundinaria
• Walking-Stick Papers (Robert Cortes Holliday, 1918) — Project Gutenberg ebook
• Modern cane fighting based on Oriental techniques
• Reprinted early 1900s information about the Vigny cane and associated techniques