<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
On 1/2/96 at Gayle Kennedy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
CW> I lived in Minnesota for 30 years - where wild rice is a major crop:
CW> especially that which is harvested in canoes by Native Americans who beat
CW> the grain off the stalks with a stick so that the rice falls in the bottom
CW> of the canoes. <snip>
CW>
CW> Anyway, local scientific belief in Minnesota is that wild rice is not a
CW> true rice, but rather it is the seed of an aquatic grass.  By my
CW> unscientific reasoning, that makes it closer to wheat than rice on the
CW> philo-genetic tree.  There are times when various rare rices like Wehini
CW> and brown rice  are confused with Native American wild rice, but
CW> there is a vast difference.  Rice, when I cook it, seems to be a
CW> single unit seed, but wild rice, when properly cooked, splits open
CW> and shows that it is definitely a double sided seed that splits
CW> and curls back when thoroughly cooked.
 
I hope that Don Kasarda can soon reply to your post, he may be on vacation.
In the meantime, here is a copy of a post he wrote just two weeks into the
life of our celiac list.  Since so few of the current subscribers were around
then, I thought I would repeat it here -- this may also save Don some time in
drafting his reply.  He does not appear to be saying that wild rice is
genetically the same as rice ... just that it is not related to oats. To my
knowledge, most US celiac support groups have wild rice on their approved
lists (not that this automatically means it is safe)
 
Bill Elkus
Los Angeles
 
=================================
 Date:         Mon, 14 Nov 1994
 From:         "Donald D. Kasarda" <[log in to unmask]>
 Subject:      Re: Wild rice
 
 >  My mom (who has a gluten intolerance) says she read that wild rice is
 >somehow related to oats. Is this true? If it is true, does it affect celiacs?
 >  (She read this in the syndicated L.M. Boyd trivia column, and it had no
 >further information, but, better to be safe....)
 >
 >  Doug
 >  [log in to unmask]
 >
 At least according to Hitchcock, Manual of the Grasses of the United States
 1950, wild rice belongs to the tribe Zizaniae whereas oats belongs to the
 tribe Aveneae.  I see no obvious relationship between wild rice and oats in
 Hitchcock's taxonomy.  It would be interesting to know where L. M. Boyd
 obtained his information.
 
 Donald D. Kasarda