Northern wild rice
Zizania palustris · Aquatic plants
Photo: Matt Berger / CC BY
Also called Wild rice, Manoomin
How to identify Northern wild rice
- Tall annual grass 3 to 8 feet
- Ribbonlike floating leaves early in the season
- Seed head with drooping male flowers below and upright female flowers above
- Long awned seeds
Similar plants
Reed canarygrass is perennial with dense heads; floating leaf stage looks like mannagrass.
Growth profile
| Growing season | Germinates in spring, floating leaf stage in June, emerges and flowers July and August and dies after seeds drop. |
|---|---|
| Starts growing | About 45 to 50 F water |
| Light | Needs clear water and full sun |
| Depth | 1 to 3 feet of water |
| How it spreads | Seeds only |
| Habitat | Soft bottomed shallow lakes and slow streams with some water movement. |
Why it matters in a lake
Planted in a few places outside its native range. Seeds are a prime waterfowl food.
Where it is found
- Idaho: Rare
- Oregon: Rare
- Wyoming: Not recorded
Classification
| Kingdom | Plantae |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Tracheophyta |
| Class | Magnoliopsida |
| Order | Poales |
| Family | Poaceae |
| Scientific name | Zizania palustris |
Broadleaf cattail
Hardstem bulrush
Reed canarygrass
Purple loosestrife
Soft rush
Yellow flag iris
Broadleaf arrowhead
Western water hemlock
Beaked sedge
Baltic rushNeed a hand?
Is it taking over your lake?
We identify what is growing, map how much of it there is and build a control plan that targets it without harming the rest of the lake.
Idaho / Wyoming (208) 501-4531Oregon (541) 280-0596