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• True grasses
• Zizania aquatica

Zizania aquatica — southern wild rice

Facts

Southern wild rice is found along fresh to brackish river shores and shallow water of lakes and rivers. It may form huge monocultures, and is sometimes planted, as it is a significant source of food for waterfowl. It was an important element of the diets of many Native American tribes.

Habitat

Brackish or salt marshes and flats, fresh tidal marshes or flats, lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams), shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther number

  0–6

  Awn on glume

  NA

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume keel

  NA

  Glume relative length

  NA

  Glume shape

  NA

  Glume veins

  NA

  Glumes per spikelet

  0

  Inflorescence arrangement

  • the plant has two types of spikelets with different reproductive structures
  • the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  the inflorescence branches are smooth or only slightly rough

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very spread out, with clearly-evident branches

  Inflorescence length

  200–1200 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  2.4–4

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  50–500 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  10–100 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma awn orientation

  • the awn of the lemma is straight
  • the awn of the lemma on dried or older plants is curved or bent outwards

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma tip shape

  • the lemma tip tapers to a long narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)
  • the lemma tip tapers to a narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  5

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma come together near the tip

  Lower glume length

  0 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  NA

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  10–25 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  the plant has some flowers with carpels, and other flowers with stamens, but no flowers with both (monoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  NA

  Spikelet length

  5–24 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  1–6 mm

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelet shape

  • the spikelets are lanceolate (lance-shaped, widest below the middle and tapering narrowly to the ends) in profile
  • the spikelets are oblong (rectangular, but with rounded ends) in profile

  Spikelet width

  0.4–1 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  NA

  Upper glume length

  0 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  NA

  Upper glume shape

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  6–22 mm

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Lifespan

  the plant lives only a single year or less

  Rhizomes

  no

  Roots

  there are only slender roots on the plant

• Leaves

  Basal leaves

  the plant has few or no leaves coming from the base of the flowering stem

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade base

  the leaf is tapered gradually to the base

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel

  Leaf blade length

  Up to 125 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  3–72 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  5–30 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  • aquatic
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • brackish or salt marshes and flats
  • fresh tidal marshes or flats
  • in lakes or ponds
  • in rivers or streams
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes are hairless or they have very sparse hairs

  Plant height

  200–500 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  Stem hairs

  the stem is nearly to completely hairless

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae