CHAPTER XXIII 

 RICE 



THE chief dependable field crop in all warm countries is 

 rice. It is the principal food in the countries that are 

 most densely populated, such, as China and India. Its 

 importance in the United States is also great and will 

 increase. 



THE RICE PLANT 



Rice belongs in the family of grasses (Poacese), and 

 is a true cereal. It is further located in the tribe Oryzese, 

 in which there are 1-flowered, perfect, or unisexual spike- 

 lets ; glumes 2 or none ; frequently 6 stamens ; caryopsis 

 with a small embryo and a linear hilum. 



672. Description. The genus Oryza, in which rice 

 belongs, has the spikelets strongly compressed, laterally, 

 2 small glumes, and perfect flowers. There are several 

 species of the genus, of which the one called Oryza sativa, 

 Linn., includes the cultivated rices, as well as the weed 

 known as red rice. The wild or Indian rices of this coun- 

 try belong in the separate genera Zizania and Zizaniopsis. 



673. Roots. The rice seedling has one seminal root. 

 The permanent or coronal root system, like those of other 

 cereals, is fibrous. The crown, from which the coronal 

 roots spring, is formed from J to 1 inch above the lower 

 end of the culm. Many adventitious roots are produced 

 from the first, second, or third nodes, and occasionally 



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