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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 10
• Zizania
• Zizania palustris

Zizania palustris — northern wild rice

Facts

Zizania palustris is a robust, aquatic, annual grass that produces large grains eaten by people and wildlife.

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 hard and firm
  • 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 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

  24–60 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  0.2–2.4

  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

  10–400 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

  0–100 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 hairs

  the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma keel hairs

  NA

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma has fine hairs on it

  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 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 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

  6–33 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  0 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

  0.6–2.6 mm

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  2–15

  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

  Groove on seed

  the caryopsis has a groove running most of its length

  Seed length

  6–30 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 hairs

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

  Leaf blade length

  20–60 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  3–21 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  3–16 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 hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath, but the hairs do not have blisters at their bases
  • 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

  Orientation of topmost leaf

  • the flag leaf is held outward at more than a 45 degree angle from the stem, or it curves downwards from the horizontal
  • the flag leaf is held upright, or at less than a 45 degree angle out from the stem

• Place

  Habitat

  aquatic

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • 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

  Up to 200 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  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