540 MISC. PUBLICATION 200, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



Figure 1139.— Distribution of 

 Leersia hexandra. 



appressed, florif erous nearly to the base ; spikelets oblong, about 4 to 

 5 mm long, a little more than 1 mm wide, often purplish, sparsely 

 hispidulous, the keels bristly ciliate. % — Shallow water, ditches, 



and wet places near the coast, North Carolina 

 to Florida and Texas (fig. 1139) ; widely distrib- 

 uted in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



5. Leersia monandra Swartz. (Fig. 1140.) 

 Culms tufted, erect, wiry, 50 to 100 cm tall, 

 without rhizomes; sheaths smooth or nearly 

 so; blades elongate, 1 to 5 mm wide; panicle 

 open, the capillary solitary branches spreading, 

 naked below, the small spikelets near the ends; 

 spikelets pale, broadly ovate, glabrous, about 2 mm long. % 

 — Rocky woods and prairies, Florida Keys, southern Florida, and 

 southern Texas; West Indies. 



TRIBE 10. ZIZANIEAE 



113. ZIZANIA L. Wildrice 



Spikelets unisexual, 1-flowered, disarticulating from the pedicel; 

 glumes obsolete, represented by a small collarlike ridge; pistillate 

 spikelet terete, angled at maturity; lemma chartaceous, 3-nerved, 

 tapering into a long slender awn; palea 2-nerved, closely clasped by 

 the lemma; grain cylindric, 1 to 2 cm long; staminate spikelet soft; 

 lemma 5-nerved, membranaceous, linear, acuminate or awn-pointed; 

 palea about as long as the glume, 3-nerved; stamens 6. Tall aquatic 

 annuals or perennials, with flat blades and large 

 terminal panicles, the lower branches ascending 

 or spreading, bearing the pendulous staminate 

 spikelets, the upper branches ascending, at ma- 

 turity erect, bearing appressed pistillate spike- 

 lets, the staminate spikelets early deciduous, 

 the pistillate spikelets tardily deciduous. Type 

 species, Zizania aquatica. Name from Zizanion, 

 an old Greek name for a weed growing in grain, 

 the tares of the Scripture parable. 



The seeds of wild rice were used by the 

 aborigines for food and are still used to some 

 extent by some of the northern tribes of 

 Indians. Wildrice is important as a food and 

 shelter for water fowl _ and is sometimes FlGUR * " V^ETe™™^' 

 planted for this purpose in marshes on game 



preserves. The thickened bases of the culms of the Asiatic Z. lati- 

 folia (Griseb.) Turcz. are used as a vegetable called Kau sun. 



Plants annual, erect 1. Z. aquatica. 



Plants perennial, long-decumbent at base 2. Z. texana.. 



1. Zizania aquatica L. Annual wildrice. (Fig. 1141.) Annual; 

 culms robust, usually 2 to 3 m tall; blades elongate, 1 to 4 cm wide, 

 scaberulous ; panicles mostly 30 to 50 cm long, the branches mostly 

 15 to 20 cm long. o —Marshes and borders of streams and ponds, 

 usually in shallow water, Quebec to North Dakota, south to Florida 

 and Louisiana; Idaho (fig. 1142). 



