UL J geo ual Sed Se 
CORRELATION OF COLOUR CHARACTERS 
IN RICE. aes 
YORK 
BY 
G. P. HECTOR, M.A., B.Sc., 
Economic Botanist to the Government of Bengal. - 
[Received for publication on 10th June, 1921.] 
In the account given below, the inheritance of the following characters 
in the rice plant is discussed. 
(1) Colour characters due to soluble pigment occurring in various 
parts of the growing plant. 
(2) Colour cf the mature kernel, 7.e., the husked grain. 
(3) Colour of the mature inner glumes, 7.e., the husk. 
Most of the above characters have been found to give definite Mendelian 
ratios, and many have been proved to be inherited in groups or patterns and 
not independently. It is mainly from the latter point of view that they are 
described in the present paper. 
The characters noted above will be taken up in order. 
Colour characters due to dissolved pigment. 
A large number of varieties of rice are characterized by the presence oi 
coloured pigment distributed throughout various parts of the plant, but the 
majority of varieties are devoid of colour and are wholly green during the 
vegetative period. The colour is due to soluble pigment dissolved in the cell 
sap. This colour can be made a basis for classification into (1) coloured 
varieties and (2) gteen or colourless. 
The colours concerned range from reds through blues to deep purple ; 
the difference in colour being generally due simply to the degree of 
concentration, but in certain cases apparently to their being in themselves 
intrinsically different. 
( 153 ) ] 
