Starting from a mixture of Zn and BiI3, we grew nanowires and nanoplates on an oxidized Si substrate at relatively low temperatures of 250 and 300 degrees C, respectively. The ZnO nanowires had diameters of similar to 40 nm and grew along the [11 (2) over bar0] direction rather than the conventional [0001] direction. The nanoplates had thicknesses of similar to 40 nm and lateral dimensions of 3-4 mu m. The growth of both the nanowires and nanoplates is dominated by the synergy of vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) and direction conducting. Analysis of photoluminescence spectra suggested that the nanoplates contain more oxygen vacancies and have higher surface-to-volume ratios than the nanowires. The present results clearly demonstrate that the shapes of ZnO nanostructures formed by using BiI3 can be controlled by varying the temperature in the range 250-300 degrees C.