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Key to Zizania

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Show caption*© Joseph Aubert, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Joseph Aubert 1 Culms decumbent, largely or completely immersed; [endemic to the San Marcos River, Hays County, TX]  Zizania texana

1 Culms erect; [collectively widespread]

2 Lemmas of the pistillate spikelets flexible and chartaceous, dull, bearing short, scattered hairs, these not or only slightly more dense toward the tip  Zizania aquatica var. aquatica

2 Lemmas of the pistillate spikelets stiff and coriaceous, lustrous, glabrous or with lines of short hairs, the tips usually more hairy.

3 Lower pistillate branches with 9-30 spikelets; pistillate portion of the inflorescence 10-40 (or more) cm wide, the branches ascending to widely divergent; leaves 10-40+ mm wide  Zizania palustris var. interior

3 Lower pistillate branches with 2-8 spikelets; pistillate portion of the inflorescence 1-8 (-15) cm wide, the branches appressed or ascending; leaves 3-21 mm wide  Zizania palustris var. palustris