Patterns of variation in Ontario wild rice ( Zizania aquatica L.). I. The influence of some climatic factors on the differentiation of populations

Abstract

Wild rice ( Zizania aquatica L.) plants from a total of eight indigenous and two introduced populations were grown in one or two greenhouse over three trials. One indigenous population was from southern Ontario and one introduced population was from Saskatchewan, all the others originated from northwestern Ontario. Levels of intra-population variability were high for a variety of morphological and phenological plant characteristics, but there were significant differences among populations for all variables. Variation among populations for flowering time, biomass, height, leaf width and floret production appeared to be associated with climatic conditions. Variation in tiller production and seed characters was not obviously directly related to climate but may be a function of local environmental conditions. Some implications of the results regarding the selection of wild rice source populations for commercial cultivation and plant breeding are discussed.