Zizania aquatica
| Zizania aquatica | |
| Light: |  |
| Hardiness: | 6 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 11' |
| Width: | 1' |
| Speed: | Fast |
| Blooms: | Mid Summer-Early Fall |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Zizania aquatica (common name: wild rice)
Propagation: Seed - it must not be allowed to dry out or it will quickly lose its viability, usually within 4 weeks[1]. Store collected seed in jars of water in a cool place such as the salad compartment of a fridge. Sow the seed in spring. Immerse the pots so that they are covered by about 5cm of water. It is best to sow 2 seeds per 7cm pot in a greenhouse in order to get early germination and a better chance of a crop[1]. Pot on as required and plant out about 30cm square in May, by which time the plants should be 20 - 30cm tall[1]. Larger quantities can be sown in shallow boxes and plunged into the pond etc in May.
Cultivation: Easily grown in water up to 60cm deep, it tolerates water up to 1 metre deep though it prefers growing in water 10 - 20cm deep[1]. It dislikes stagnant water[2].
A very ornamental plant[3], it grows, flowers and fruits well in the lake and lily pond at Kew[1]. Plants can self-sow in Britain, but the seed tends to germinate too late to mature a fresh crop of seed in this country, so the plant gradually dies out[1]. It would possibly maintain itself in areas such as the Isle of Wight, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk[1]. It is a very hardy plant, the seed survives being frozen in ice[1]. Plants grown at a 30cm square spacing can produce 20 or more flowering shoots[1].
Often collected from the wild, this plant is now being cultivated commercially for its edible seed[4]. It is considered a gourmet's delicacy and is sold in many parts of the world, usually in health food shops and usually at a very high price[1].
Plants require protection from wild fowl otherwise they will devour the young growth[1]. Plants are occasionally sown by lakes and rivers in Europe to attract wild fowl[5].
Range: Eastern N. America - New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to Florida and Texas.
Habitat: Shallow waters of rivers and lakes, preferring a slow moving current[2][6].
Edibility: Seed - cooked[7]. It can be used as a cereal. A staple food of the native North American Indians[8][9], the long black delicious grain is eaten as an expensive gourmet meal[4]. It is used in the same ways that rice is used and is sometimes added to rice dishes to impart its subtle flavour. The seed can also be ground into a meal and used in making bread, thickening soups etc[4]. It is a very rich source of riboflavin and is also rich in niacin[10].
The base of the culms is used as a vegetable[11].
Pollinators: Wind
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Seed Ripens: Early Fall-Mid Fall
Flower Type: Monoecious
Links
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew Bulletin. Royal Botanic Gardens, 1909.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes. Garden Way, 1978.
- ↑ Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, 1990.
- ↑ Tutin, Tom et al.. Flora Europaea. Cambridge University Press, 1964.
- ↑ Lyndon, Merritt. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co, 1950.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.
- ↑ Saunders, Charles. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications, 1976.
- ↑ McPherson, Alan and Sue McPherson. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press, 1977.
- ↑ Natural Food Institute. Wonder Crops 1987.
- ↑ Komarov, Vladimir. Flora of the USSR. Gantner Verlag, 1968.