Wild Rice

Wild Rice

Zizania aquatica L., Zizania palustris L.

Poaceae

Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) women parching wild rice in pots before hulling, Lac Seul, Ontario, 1919, Photo credit: F. W. Waugh, Canadian Museum of History Archive and Collections

Names and Their Meanings

Wild Rice - Zizania aquatica, Z. palustris

Kanienʼkéha

atenen’ónkwas

Anishinaabemowin

mnoomin (-an, plural)

French

Z. aquatica: Zizanie à fleurs blanches Z. palustris: Zizanie des marais

Anishnaabe (Ojibwa) man and boy harvesting wild rice in a canoe, Lac Seul, Ontario, 1919, Photo credit: F. W. Waugh, Canadian Museum of History Archive and Collections

Anishnaabe (Ojibwa) man and boy harvesting wild rice in a canoe, Lac Seul, Ontario, 1919, Photo credit: F. W. Waugh, Canadian Museum of History Archive and Collections

Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) man winnowing the hulls from wild rice, Lac Seul, Ontario, 1919, Photo credit: F. W. Waugh, Canadian Museum of History Archive and Collections

Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) women parching wild rice in pots before hulling, Lac Seul, Ontario, 1919, Photo credit: F. W. Waugh, Canadian Museum of History Archive and Collections

Description

Wild Rice is a cultural keystone species for all Anishinaabe and Algonquian peoples. A large annual, semi-aquatic emergent, grass-like plant growing up to 3 meters, the leaves are long and thin, with ligules at the sheath. The flowers occur in spikes, with male flowers spreading on the bottom of the spike, and female flowers appressed at the top of the spike. The seed is a long grain. Wild rice likes loose, organic sediments and requires 0.1-1 m of clear water. Wild rice occurs in wetlands, lakeshores and slow-moving rivers. Wild rice flowers from July to August, and are wind pollinated. The grains develop from late August to September, and are dispersed by wind and water. Wild rice does not reproduce vegetatively.

Conservation Status

Z. aquatica: S3 (Vulnerable) in Ontario; S5 (Secure) in New York

Z. palustris: S5 (Secure) in Ontario; S3 (Vulnerable) in New York