Zizania palustris
interior wildrice, northern wild rice, wild rice
to 3 m, erect, usually at least partly immersed.
glabrous or with scattered hairs;
ligules 3-16 mm, upper ligules truncate, lanceolate or triangular, erose;
blades 20-60 cm long, 3-21(40+) mm wide, glabrous, margins glabrate or scabrous.
24-60 cm long, 1-20(40) cm wide;
branches unisexual.
6-30 mm long, 0.6-2 mm wide.
branches ascending or divergent;
pedicel apices 0.2-0.4 mm wide.; staminate spikelets 6-17 mm, lanceolate, acuminate or awned, awns to 2 mm.
branches mostly appressed or ascending, a few sometimes divergent;
pedicel apices 0.7-1.2 mm wide.; pistillate spikelets 8-33 mm long, 1-2.6 mm wide, lanceolate or oblong, coriaceous or indurate, lustrous, glabrous or with lines of short hairs, apices usually hirsute and abruptly narrowed, awned, awns to 10 cm;
lemmas and paleas remaining clasped at maturity; aborted pistillate spikelets 0.6-2.6 mm wide.
= 30.
Zizania palustris
Zizania palustris grows mostly to the north of Z. aquatica, but the two species overlap in the Great Lakes region, eastern Canada, and New England. It is cultivated as a crop in some provinces and states, with California being the largest producer. All records from the western part of the Flora region reflect deliberate plantings; none are known to have persisted. In cultivated strains, the pistillate spikelets remain on the plant at maturity.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Lower pistillate branches with 9-30 spikelets; pistillate part of the inflorescence 10-40 cm or more wide, the branches ascending to widely divergent; plants 1-3 m tall; blades 10-40+ mm wide | var. interior |
1. Lower pistillate branches with 2-8 spikelets; pistillate part of the inflorescence 1-8(15) cm wide, the branches appressed or ascending, or a few branches somewhat divergent; plants to 2 m tall; blades 3-21 mm wide | var. palustris |
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OR, 
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