In Texas, animal or plant species of conservation concern may be listed as threatened or endangered under the authority of state law and/or under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Species may be listed as state threatened or endangered and not federally listed. The state list deals only with the status of the species within Texas. A federal listing means that an animal is in decline throughout its entire range which may encompass several other states or nations. This series includes wildlife which may be close to extinction and is comprised of birds, fish, invertebrates, mammals, plants, amphibians and reptiles.
Texas Wild-rice (Zizania texana)
Texas Status: Endangered
U.S. Status: Endangered, Listed 04/26/1978
Description: Texas wild-rice has long green leaves up to 45 inches in length and 1/4 to 1 inch wide. Rice "seeds" are black or brown.
Life History: Texas wild-rice is an aquatic perennial grass found only in the upper two miles of the San Marcos River in central Texas. It is related to the wild-rice grown for human food. On a sunny day, this plant's bright green leaves can be seen waving in the current near the river bottom in areas where the water is clean and clear. This plant is endangered because the river water is being impacted by the growth of the city of San Marcos and increasing numbers of people swimming, canoeing, and tubing the river. Because more people are using water, less underground water is flowing from the springs. Nutria, a non-native rodent that lives in wetland areas, is also a threat because it eats the wild-rice.
Distribution: This species grows in the San Marcos River in Hays County, central Texas; Edwards Plateau region. Currently, only one population is known.
Habitat: This plant grows in clear flowing spring-fed waters.
Other: You can help save this plant by not pulling it up or disturbing it. Do your part to conserve water and keep the San Marcos River clean.
Because this series is quite a distance from my house, maintenance is rather difficult. Log's get wet, containers break, and sometimes caches just flat go missing. If you dont find the cache, and believe it to be gone, or it needs maintenance, please feel free to make it whole again. As a thank you, you may add a second log to any that you do maintenance on. And thanks for the help.