RARE TEXAS PLANTS: Getting to know a rare Texas plant ... 
on Passport to Texas.

This is Passport to Texas

Texas Wild Rice is an endangered species that exists only 
in a two mile stretch of the San Marcos River. 

06 -- Just in that two-mile stretch. Because, what happens is, you 
go further down the river and the river's character changes.

Botanist, Jackie Poole says where the rice grows, the 
spring-fed river is clear and a constant 72 degrees; but, 
farther downstream ... 

10 -- It's very different. It starts to become more turbid, and loses 
that constant temperature quality. So, it's just not as good habitat 
further downstream.

When asked to describe the plant, Poole laughed and said 
it's like flowing hair.

15 -- [chuckle] That's probably the best way to say it. If you 
envision someone with long, flowing hair, the leaves are 
submerged under water. And they can be up to 10 to 15 feet 
long, and so they just wave underneath the water with the 
current.

So here we have a very rare and endangered plant that 
only grows underwater along a two mile stretch of river. 
So, does that mean we never see it?

17 -- It does flower. And when it flowers, the flowering stalks are 
produced above the water. So then you would see flowering stalks 
that look like, um, maybe most grasses - like a Johnson grass. I 
hate to use that example of a noxious, invasive species. But it 
does resemble that.

The challenges of getting the public to care about a rare 
plant anyone rarely sees. That's tomorrow.

The WSFR Program supports our series. For Texas Parks 
and Wildlife, I'm Cecilia Nasti.



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Maximum Script time:			0:37.0	 	 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25