Also called manoomin or mnomen ("the good berry/seed/grain" in
Anishinaabemowin
), ♒︎ lake rice, 🇨🇦 Canada rice, Indian rice, and ♒︎ water oats.
Despite its common names, not a
🌾︎ rice genus Oryza.
Instead, an ♒︎ 🌾︎ aquatic grass, part of
wild rice genus Zizania
in
🌾︎ grass family Poaceae
in
🌾︎ grass/rush/sedge order Poales.
Native to much of North America.
Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)
Zizania hosts caterpillars of 5 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.
Has a grain more nutritious than
Asian rice Oryza sativa.
Specifically,
cooked wild rice
has:
-
18% fewer calories (101/123) and 46% more protein (3.99/2.74) compared to
brown rice,
or
-
22% fewer calories (101/130) and 68% more protein (3.99/2.38) compared to
white rice.
If you can find wild rice grain for sale,
"true wild rice", native varieties, traditionally-harvested and -processed,
will cost about 5× as much as
"paddy rice", cultivated or GMO varieties, mechanically-harvested and -processed.
Manoomin: Native Wild Rice in Michigan slides by Barb Barton and Roger LaBine (.pdf)
Wild Rice in Michigan slides by Barb Barton and Roger LaBine (.pdf)
Propagation protocol (.pdf).