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Info
Subfamily: Ehrhartoideae
Genus etymology: Zizania was an ancient Greek term for a weed among wheat, likely darnell, but this genus shares no similarity
Species etymology: latifolia = "broad leaved" [Latin] refering to the leaf width
Photosynthetic type: C3 (cool season)
Nativity: naturalized - intentional
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 1930
Map
Inflorescence
image credit: Марина_СадыковаPlant
Spikelets
image credit: Марина_СадыковаLandscape
image credit: Forest & Kim StarrCollar
Rhizomes
Description
Plants perennial; rhizomatous. Culms 1-2.5(4) m, erect, rooting at the lower nodes, emergent. Sheaths glabrous, lower sheaths tessellate; ligules 10-15 mm, triangular; blades (30)50-100 cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces scabrous. Panicles 30-50 cm long, 10-15 cm wide; branches unisexual or bisexual, lower branches with staminate spikelets, middle branches with staminate and pistillate spikelets, upper branches with pistillate spikelets. Staminate branches spreading; pedicel apices 0.2-0.5 mm wide. Staminate spikelets 8-12 mm, elliptic-oblong, margins ciliate, awned, awns 2-8 mm, scabrous; anthers 5-8 mm. Pistillate branches erect; pedicel apices 0.3-0.6 mm wide. Pistillate spikelets 15-25 mm, linear, veins scabrous, awned, awns 15-30 mm, scabrous. Caryopses about 1 cm. 2n = 30, 34.
(Description source: Barkworth, M.E., Capels, K.M. & Long, S. (eds.) 1993. Flora of North America, north of Mexico. Volume 24. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. 911 pp. http://floranorthamerica.org/Zizania_latifolia )