I hope they choose planting spots carefully and wisely. Arundinaria gigantea spreads aggressively and I would worry about that.

beng - thanks for posting this. I enjoy visiting southern Ohio since that area is the northern limit for a number of plants that are native farther south, including giant cane:

I'm assuming that giant cane doesn't have the potential to spread as aggressively in Ohio as it probably would in warmer zones. Also, I don't believe the species itself is considered endangered, but the habitat it created when growing in larger stands (known as "canebrakes") is definitely endangered, now only a tiny fraction of what they used to be.

"Ohio Birds and Biodiversity" (by Jim McCormac) has this webpage where he says that giant cane is "an enigma north of the Ohio River ... undoubtedly native along the Ohio River and immediate environs in southern Ohio, but no one can say with certainty that any of the known patches are there of their own accord. People plant the stuff, and it can persist for a long time. But in and around Shawnee [State Forest], there are colonies ... far off the beaten path and in perfect habitat. My suspicion is that at least some of the boondock-dwelling Shawnee cane is wild, but hard and fast proof is lacking."

arbordave, I should have specified that I'm near sure it was stated to be endangered in OH (edited now).

I also enjoyed southeast OH as I traveled thru on business trips, as it's similar to the mountain and valley regions were I end up always living, tho the "mountains" aren't as tall. Once you get to Columbus, it's pretty dern flat.

Many people do not realize the change that has come to the Ohio area in the last 300 years. At one time one of the major hindrances to travel in Northern Ohio was the great swamp, This swamp extended on both sides of the Maumee River from about Fort Wayne to Toledo, in places it was over 50 miles wide. Starting about 1860 the swamp was gradually drained and today exist only in some preserves.

If you are familiar with the Fort Wayne area. the Swamp extended east from Fort Wayne in a V shape. The edges being about US 30 on the south and Indiana 37 on the north. With all of the farming in the last 100 years you can still see the ridges of earth that created the edge of the swamp. Today what was the swamp is covered with many productive farms.

There were smaller swamps along the edge of Lake Erie and along some of the other rivers in the state.