49 



FlG. 34. Oryza sativa L. 

 cules; c, grain. 



RICE. — a, A spikelet; b, a flower showing the lodi- 



34. ORYZA Linn. Sp. PI. 333. 1753. Spikelets 1-flowered, hermaphrodite, 

 strongly flattened laterally in terminal panicles; rhachilla articulated below 

 the empty 'glumes. Glumes, 3, the 1st two small, empty, the 3d compressed, 

 keeled, somewhat rigid, usually awned. Palea 1-nerved, narrower, but about 

 the length of the glume. Stamens, 6. Grain oblong obtuse, closely enveloped 

 by the fruiting glume. Aquatic grasses with flat leaves and terminal panicles. 



Species 5 or 6, in the tropics of both hemispheres. 



15M4— No. 20 4 



