Zizania palustris var. interior

Interior wild rice, northern wild rice, Northern Wild Rice

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Interior wild rice is a naturalized annual grass found in northern Sierra Valley, northern Sierra Nevada Foothills, and Modoc Plateau in generally muddy shores and shallow water at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering in August, this plant produces pale green to tan flowers in large, branching inflorescences 2 to 5 decimeters long. Growing with tall, robust stems 1 to 3 meters high that are slightly hairy at the nodes, it forms impressive stands in wetland environments. Its long leaves measure 15 to 60 centimeters in length and 6 to 40 millimeters wide, extending broadly from the stem. The plant produces distinctive spikelets with staminate flowers 6 to 8 millimeters long and pistillate flowers 10 to 20 millimeters long, featuring awns 5 to 40 millimeters in length.

Habitat: Generally muddy shores and shallow water

Bloom period: Aug

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: ScV (n SNF, MP, historic)

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.