RICE 605 



681. Classification. Little study has been given to 

 the classification of rice. The first need appears to be 

 information that will establish more definite connection 

 with wild forms. There are several from which to choose. 

 Also in the numerous instances in which wild rice has been 

 reported, it is not certain always whether or not it was 

 rice escaped from cultivation. Watt (1891) believed that 

 the surface structure of the lemma and palea (see 674) 

 and of the facets of the receptacle bearing the spikelet 

 are constant characters of importance, and that, on the 

 basis of these, the two forms Oryza granulata, Nees, and 

 0. offwinalis, Wall., are distinct from any that are culti- 

 vated. 



Subdivisions of cultivated rices have been made on 

 several bases. The one feature common to all is the 

 division into glutinous and non-glutinous rices. The 

 characters of size, shape, and color of kernel are. used 

 variously by different writers. Some make red rice a 

 main division of cultivated rices, but red rices exist having 

 practically all the other chief characters of the species. 

 The long-glumed rice is also sometimes made a separate 

 main division, but is considered by most writers to be 

 comparatively unimportant because of its rarity, and the 

 probability that it has been developed abnormally in 

 wet, ultra-tropical localities. Graham (1913) believes 

 that the color of the leaf sheath is important in classi- 

 fication, and states that it is correlated with a similar 

 color of the apiculus or tip of the spikelet. Others 

 distinguish the scented rices (0. moschata) and the 

 violet-colored rices (0. violacea, Mag.) as important 

 divisions. 



Based upon the little knowledge we have, the following 

 provisional arrangement of wild and cultivated forms is 



