THE BOTANY AND HISTOKY OF ZIZANIA AQUATICA L. 



("WILD KICE")' 



By Chables E. Chambliss 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture 



[With 9 plates] 



For this evening I have assembled some of my field notes on 

 Ziza'T^M aquatica, together with some historical data on the species, 

 which I trust will meet the requirements of this occasion. And this 

 is my story. 



Life was easy for Wenibozho.^ His indulgent grandmother, with 

 whom he lived, demanded no work of him, and in consequence he 

 passed through his early boyhood days without exhibiting any par- 

 ticular interest in those things that must be learned and thoroughly 

 understood by people who depend largely upon self for the necessaries 

 of life. 



At last, the grandmother awoke to the fact that her grandson 

 lacked the initiative so essential to meet the requirements of their 

 race, and convinced that her solicitous care was responsible, the aging 

 woman urged the indifferent youth to prepare himself with a train- 

 ing that would fit him to endure such hardships as hunger, thirst, 

 and cold. She told him that experiences of this kind would make him 

 resourceful and teach him how to care for himself and those who 

 might be dependent upon him. Probably somewhat irked by these 

 plain words, Wenibozho later said goodbye to his grandmotlier, who 

 for many years had provided him with food and shelter. 



Equipped with onlj' a bow and some arrows, he started on a long 

 journey through the forest. For meat, he had to depend upon the 

 flesh of small animals. Not because there was a scarcity of animals, 

 for they abounded in the woods, but because of his unskilled use of 

 the bow, his kills were few. Therefore, he had to subsist on seeds, 

 roots, and tubers. Without knowing the plants that could furnish 

 nourishing food, he naturally made mistakes. 



One day when thoroughly exhausted from want of food he heard a 

 voice saying, "Sometimes they eat us." He heard this voice several 



1 Address of the retiring president of tlie Wasliington Academy of Sciences, delivered on 

 January 18, 1940, Reprinted by permission from the Journal of the Academy vol 30 

 No. 5, May 15, 1940. 



* Gilmore, Melvin R., Prairie smolse, pp. 195-198, 1929. 



369 



