{ "id": "ep3t83k87x", "slug": "wild-rice", "title": "Wild rice", "updated": "2026-10-21", "topic_path": [ { "id": "life", "label": "Life and health", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life" }, { "id": "life.plants", "label": "Plants and algae", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed", "label": "Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.monocots", "label": "Monocots", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.monocots" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.monocots.grass_family_poaceae", "label": "Grass family (Poaceae)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.monocots.grass_family_poaceae" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.monocots.cereal_crops", "label": "Cereal crops", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.monocots.cereal_crops" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.monocots.rice_crop_and_cuisine", "label": "Rice: crop and cuisine", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.monocots.rice_crop_and_cuisine" }, { "id": "life.plants.seed.monocots.rice_crop_and_cuisine.wild_rice", "label": "Wild rice", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/life.plants.seed.monocots.rice_crop_and_cuisine.wild_rice" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed", "label": "United States · Not dated: Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate", "label": "United States · Not dated", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life", "label": "Life and health", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants", "label": "Plants and algae", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants" }, { "id": "geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed", "label": "Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.nodate.life.plants.seed" } ] }, { "id": "geo.other.nodate.life.plants.seed", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · Not dated: Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.nodate.life.plants.seed", "path": [ { "id": "geo.other", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other" }, { "id": "geo.other.nodate", "label": "Other (Canada, Oceania, polar regions, oceans) · Not dated", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.nodate" }, { "id": "geo.other.nodate.life", "label": "Life and health", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.nodate.life" }, { "id": "geo.other.nodate.life.plants", "label": "Plants and algae", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.nodate.life.plants" }, { "id": "geo.other.nodate.life.plants.seed", "label": "Seed plants", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.other.nodate.life.plants.seed" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Wild rice is the grain of aquatic grasses in the genus Zizania, native to North America and East Asia; the Great Lakes' northern wild rice, called manoomin by the Ojibwe, is the most widely eaten species.", "snippet": "Wild rice is the grain of aquatic grasses in the genus Zizania, native to North America and East Asia; the Great Lakes' northern wild rice, called manoomin by the Ojibwe, is the most widely eaten species.", "node": "life.plants.seed.monocots.rice_crop_and_cuisine.wild_rice", "markdown": "# Wild rice\n\n**Wild rice** is the grain of aquatic grasses in the genus *[Zizania](https://www.edgepedia.org/zizania)*, native to North America and [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia) and related to true rice (*Oryza*), with both belonging to the tribe Oryzeae.[12](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/comparative-genomics-in-the-oryzeae-advances-in-rice-genetics-22-/) The northern wild rice (*Zizania palustris* L.) of the [Great Lakes region](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-lakes-region) is the species most widely eaten and commercially cultivated; the Ojibwe call it manoomin (\"good berry\") and the Dakota psíŋ.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx) • [2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02233-0) It is an ancient food of Indigenous Peoples of the upper Midwest and Canada and is now sold as a specialty grain.[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Plant | Annual, cross-pollinated aquatic grass in the grass family (Poaceae); matures in about 110 days and needs about 2,600 growing degree days (40 °F base) in Minnesota[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx) |\n| Nutrition | Protein 9.8–12.1%, starch 73.7–76.5%, lipid around 1%, gluten-free[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376) |\n| Fatty acids | Omega-3 fatty acids make up 50–57% of the lipid, versus 33–40% in cultivated rice[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376) |\n| Vitamins and phenolics | Total vitamin B of 77.1–107.2 μg/g, twice the level in wheat; soluble phenolic compounds 87.6–111.7 μg/g, three times the level in wheat[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376) |\n| Minerals | Potassium 1,963–3,031 μg/g, phosphorus 2,215–3,667 μg/g, sulfur 1,385–1,757 μg/g, magnesium 662–969 μg/g, calcium 73–110 μg/g[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376) |\n| Harvest trend | Wild rice available for off-reservation tribal harvest in the Great Lakes region declined about 5–7% annually between 1985 and 2020[2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02233-0) |\n| Minnesota season | Harvest runs August 15 through September 30, and the state's green rice law makes harvesting unripe rice illegal even within those dates[4](https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/2026/08/10/wild-rice-season-opens-soon-harvesters-must-ensure-rice-ripe) |\n\n## The plant\n\nWild rice grows in shallow lakes, slow-flowing streams, and fresh marshes.[5](https://seagrant.wisc.edu/manoomin/background/) Plants stand five to six feet tall and can carry up to 50 tillers, with hollow stems and ribbon-like leaf blades. Flowers are borne in a branching panicle with female flowers at the top and male flowers below; because the female flowers emerge and are receptive before the male flowers shed pollen on the same panicle, cross-pollination is the rule. The grain is a caryopsis with an impermeable, wax-covered pericarp; immature seeds are green and turn purple-black at maturity.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\nSeed dormancy is a defining trait. Seeds will not germinate for at least three months after maturity and require an after-ripening period in water at freezing or near-freezing temperatures (about 35 °F) before the embryo breaks dormancy. Dormancy is caused by the impermeable pericarp and by an imbalance of endogenous growth promoters and inhibitors. In spring, germination begins when water temperature reaches about 45 °F, with an optimum between 64 and 70 °F.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\nThe crop thrives only in flooded soils: wild rice cannot obtain sufficient iron in nonflooded soils, and iron availability is one of the major reasons flooding is required. Natural stands grow in water with less than 10 parts per million sulfate, though research has found satisfactory growth up to 250 ppm, and the plant tolerates water hardness of 22 to 300 ppm calcium carbonate and pH 5.0 to 8.0.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\n## Traditional harvest and cultural role\n\nFor the [Anishinaabe](https://www.edgepedia.org/anishinaabe) peoples of the [Great Lakes](https://www.edgepedia.org/great-lakes), manoomin is a sacred plant, considered a gift from the Creator that tied communities to specific places and served ritual and medicinal purposes.[6](https://lab.plant-humanities.org/wild-rice)\n\n**Canoe-and-flail harvesting** remains the traditional method: one person paddles the canoe with a push pole (gaandakii-iganaak) while another knocks ripe grains from the stalks with special sticks (bawa'iganaak) so the seeds fall into the canoe.[6](https://lab.plant-humanities.org/wild-rice) In Ontario, manoomin was the main carbohydrate food for many Indigenous communities for generations, with over a million pounds harvested per year during the 20th century.[8](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/items/65c4a2ed-da28-4e66-8bb8-bfcf63ab28e4)\n\n## Commercial cultivation\n\nGrowing wild rice as a field crop was first suggested in 1852 by Joseph Bowron of Wisconsin and in 1853 by Oliver H. Kelley of Minnesota, but serious efforts began only in 1950, when James and Gerald Godward planted a one-acre diked, flooded paddy near Merrifield, Minnesota. By 1958 they farmed 120 acres, and in 1965 [Uncle Ben](https://www.edgepedia.org/uncle-ben), Inc. began contracting acreage, spurring organized breeding programs.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\n**Shatter resistance drove expansion.** Natural stands hold little shattering resistance, so grains drop before harvest; breeding shatter-resistant varieties allowed mechanical combine harvesting and rapid growth of paddy production. Minnesota acreage rose from 900 acres in 1968 to 18,000 acres in 1973, and by 1991 Minnesota and California accounted for most of the acreage, at 20,000 and 8,000 acres respectively, with smaller production in Idaho, Wisconsin, and Oregon. In Canada, most wild rice still comes from lakes and streams leased from the government and harvested by airboats fitted with collecting troughs.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\nPaddy management is water-intensive: a plant density of two plants per square foot required 25 acre-inches of water over a growing season, roughly half often supplied by rainfall, and a 30-acre field needs about 15 million gallons for initial flooding. Only ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizers are stable in flooded soils, since nitrate is rapidly lost as dinitrogen gas.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx) After harvest, the grain is cured, or fermented, for 4 to 5 days at a processing plant.[9](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-ITC1-PURL-LPS17724/pdf/GOVPUB-ITC1-PURL-LPS17724.pdf)\n\n## Nutrition\n\nA 2025 analysis of northern [Saskatchewan](https://www.edgepedia.org/saskatchewan) wild rice populations compared the grain with cultivated rice and wheat. Wild rice had higher protein (9.8–12.1%), similar starch (73.7–76.5%), and lower lipid (around 1%), with a significantly higher share of omega-3 fatty acids (50–57% versus 33–40% in rice). Total vitamin B content was twice that of wheat, soluble phenolic compounds three times that of wheat, and antioxidant potential measured 2.6–4.9 mg/g trolox equivalent, higher than wheat or cultivated rice. The authors also found that industrial processing affects the grain's nutritional quality and bioactivity.[3](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376) Earlier compositional data likewise show high lysine and methionine shares in the protein and less than one percent fat, of which linolenic and linoleic acids together make up 68% of the fatty acids.[1](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n\n## Decline and conservation\n\nWild rice was once found in nearly every US state east of the [Rocky Mountains](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocky-mountains); today natural stands are largely restricted to the shallow lakes and slow-flowing waters of the Upper Great Lakes region.[10](https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2019/09/wild-rice-hia-report.pdf) Documented causes include modified hydrology such as ditching, channelization, and dam inundation; aquatic invasive species; shoreline development and runoff; motorized boat traffic that uproots plants before they set seed; and industrial discharges high in sulfate, such as mine pit dewatering and tailings seepage.[10](https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2019/09/wild-rice-hia-report.pdf)\n\n**Climate change adds pressure.** An analysis of 1985–2020 density and harvest data found that fall wild rice stem density is higher in years with lower early-summer water levels and longer lake-ice duration. As the region warms faster than the global average and early-summer precipitation increases, wild rice available for off-reservation tribal harvest has declined regionally by about 5–7% annually, a trend expected to continue.[2](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02233-0) Tribes routinely restore lake habitats and seed wild rice beds to maintain future harvests.[11](https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/manoomin-taming-wild-rice-great-lakes-region) In Minnesota, harvesters and tribes have also raised concerns about genetically modified wild rice crossing into natural stands, and the state legislature has worked out protections for natural stands alongside the cultivated industry.[10](https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2019/09/wild-rice-hia-report.pdf)\n\n## Regulation\n\nIn Minnesota, the harvest season runs from August 15 through September 30, but the green rice law makes it illegal to take unripe rice even within those dates, because premature harvesting damages the plants and reduces grain for harvesters, wildlife, and next year's stands. The Department of Natural Resources publishes annual wild rice condition reports to help harvesters judge ripeness.[4](https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/2026/08/10/wild-rice-season-opens-soon-harvesters-must-ensure-rice-ripe)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Oelke et al., Wild Rice, University of Wisconsin Corn Agronomy / Minnesota Extension](https://corn.aae.wisc.edu/Crops/WildRice.aspx)\n2. [Climate change contributes to the decline in off-reservation tribal harvest availability in the Great Lakes region, Communications Earth & Environment](https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02233-0)\n3. [A comparative nutrient analysis of multiple Saskatchewan wild rice (Zizania palustris L.) populations and commercially available grains, Journal of Agriculture and Food Research](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154325002376)\n4. [Wild rice season opens soon, but harvesters must ensure rice is ripe, Minnesota DNR](https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/news/2026/08/10/wild-rice-season-opens-soon-harvesters-must-ensure-rice-ripe)\n5. [Background, Manoomin Education and Outreach Project, Wisconsin Sea Grant](https://seagrant.wisc.edu/manoomin/background/)\n6. [Wild Rice: Connecting People to Place, Plant Humanities Lab](https://lab.plant-humanities.org/wild-rice)\n7. [Lake Superior Manoomin Cultural and Ecosystem Characterization Study, 1854 Treaty Authority](https://www.1854treatyauthority.org/images/Manoomin_Final.Report_Online.Version_2020.05.29-compressed.pdf)\n8. [From Manomin to 'Wild' Rice and Back Again, Lakehead University Knowledge Commons](https://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/items/65c4a2ed-da28-4e66-8bb8-bfcf63ab28e4)\n9. [Wild rice trade document, US Government Publishing Office](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GOVPUB-ITC1-PURL-LPS17724/pdf/GOVPUB-ITC1-PURL-LPS17724.pdf)\n10. [Wild Rice Human Impact Assessment report, Pew Charitable Trusts](https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2019/09/wild-rice-hia-report.pdf)\n11. [Manoomin: The Taming of Wild Rice in the Great Lakes Region, Environment & Society Portal](https://www.environmentandsociety.org/arcadia/manoomin-taming-wild-rice-great-lakes-region)\n12. [Comparative genomics in the Oryzeae. Advances in rice genetics, 22-27 October 2000.](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/comparative-genomics-in-the-oryzeae-advances-in-rice-genetics-22-/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Plants and algae › Seed plants › Monocots › Grass family (Poaceae) › Cereal crops › Rice: crop and cuisine › Wild rice*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Wild rice\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Wild rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice](https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Wild rice\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/wild-rice. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Wild rice is the grain of aquatic grasses in the genus Zizania, native to North America and East Asia; the Great Lakes' northern wild rice, called manoomin by the Ojibwe, is the most widely eaten species." }