Perennial wild rice
Oryza longistaminata

Family: Poaceae

What it is like

Oryza longistaminata is a PERENNIAL growing to 1.5 m (5ft) by 0.1 m (0ft 4in) at a fast rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10. The flowers are pollinated by Wind. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist or wet soil and can grow in water.

Height (m): 1.5

Where it is found

Swamps, shallow ponds, lake and river sides, field edges and flooded grassland, in both permanently wet and seasonally inundated areas. It can colonise inundated meadows to form a blanket cover. Found at elevations up to 1,800 metres.

Tropical Africa - Senegal to Somalia, south to southwest Africa to Madagascar.

Conservation Status: Least Concern ver 3.1

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Southern Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How it is used

Food

Rating: 2

Seed - cooked. It is said to have a good flavour. It can be used as a famine food. The seed has an appearance similar to Asian rice (Oryza sativa). Harvesting of the seed poses some difficulties, especially because the grain shatters extremely readily. One method is to reap the entire panicle just before it comes to maturity; alternatively, the ripe panicle is shaken over a basket or a calabash into which the grain falls. Another disincentive to handling the panicle is the long scabrid awns. The plant is considered to be a source of resistance genes to various diseases affecting cultivated rice (Oryza sativa). Resistance to bacterial leaf blight has successfully been transferred. It is a host plant of rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV), an important disease of Oryza sativa in Africa, but in general it is more tolerant of the disease, and some accessions are immune. The plant is a potential source of genes for the development of perennial types of Oryza sativa, which would provide a permanent ground cover and reduce erosion.

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 2

The straw, which may attain considerable length if the plant has grown in flood water, is valued for thatching. Because they are a source of resistance to or tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, the most important use of the various species of wild rice is probably in breeding programmes to improve the species of cultivated rice.

Staple Crop: Balanced carb: (0-15 percent protein, 0-15 percent oil, with at least one over 5 percent). The carbohydrates are from either starch or sugar. Annuals include maize, wheat, rice, and potato. Perennials include chestnuts, carob, perennial fruits, nuts, cereals, pseudocereals, woody pods, and acorns.

Wild-harvested and Sold: Some wild plants have strong historic or contemporary use. Although they are not cultivated crops, they may be wild-managed.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Requires a sunny position. Prefers black cotton soils, Kalahari sand, and alluvium. Plants can succeed in water up to 4 metres deep, but generally it is less than 1 metre. The plant can become a noxious weed in rice paddy fields, suppressing cultivated-rice strains. Plants can flower at any time of the year. The plant does not always set seed well, propagating itself mainly by means of its extensive rhizomes.

Propagating it: Seed. The seed of wild rice less than 12 months old often exhibits strong dormancy, which implies (though this has not been established) that the seed retains its viability for a considerable period. Heat treatment is generally effective in breaking dormancy - alternating temperatures between 34°c for 16 hours then 11°c for 8 hours is usually effective, though the time taken varies between species. Surface sow the seed in light shade and do not allow to dry out. Seed should germinate within 7 days at 30°c. Prick out 2 - 3 seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and, after a few days, move to a sunny position. Grow on until large enough to plant out. Division.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Perennial

Hardiness: 10-12

Growth: Fast

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Moist, wet, water

Things to keep in mind

The plant can become a noxious weed in rice paddy fields, suppressing cultivated-rice strains. As the wild rices do not germinate in the absence of adequate oxygen, they are only weed problems if they are allowed to germinate and establish in drained soil prior to flooding or in the case of O. longistaminata, when the weed regenerates from rhizomes. The annual species' are therefore not serious weeds of transplanted rice, provided clean seed is used and adequate water control is employed (Parker and Dean, 1976).

Its other names

Local names

Alumo, Aro-de-ganga, Arroz-bravo, Arroz-selvagin, Bahure, Bange saga, Barimale, Bawu, Bororo, Bugau, Cadja, Cumaro-maro, Kolkodo, Kuma malo, Lop, Lou, M'baia, Mababa, Malo-sanfe, Malu-lante, Maro-djine, Maro-guelode, Marocumare, N'djangante, N'tanse, N'tante, Omano-mane, Pungane, Pungue, Sibuyuyu, Sulefagi, Undjangante, Untante, English: Red Rice, Rhizomatous wild rice. African perennial rice. French: diga; riz sauvage; riz sauvage à rhizomes. Germany: Reis, Wilder

Synonyms

Oryza silvestris Stapf ex A.Chev.

Perennial wild rice Oryza longistaminata