ORYZA SATIVA, Unn. 



[Fid^e Plate IV.] 



English, rice ; Veenaculae, dhan (unhusked), chawal (husked), baranj, (Persian). 



Natural order Grammes, tribe Oryzea. Annual. Stems numerous, varying in height from 

 2-10 ft,, lower portion floating or creeping, erect above, cylindrical, jointed, smooth, striate. 

 Leaves with long close sheaths, the lower ones without blades ; ligule prominent, often an inch in 

 length, lanceolate, acute ; blade linear, tapering, acute, 1-2 ft. long, and upwards of an inch in 

 width, pale green, rough, edges serrulate and armed with minute forward prickles ; midrib promi- 

 nent. Panicles narrow, 8 in. to 1 ft. or more in length, at first erect, becoming more or less 

 drooping as the grain ripens ; rachis flexuose, angular, hispid, with tufts of soft hair at the base of 

 the branches. Spikelets laxly disposed, stalked, 1-flowered, articulated with the swollen summit 

 of the pedicel. Glumes small, the outer a little the longer, lanceolate acuminate, 1-nerved ; pales 

 2, equal, longer than the glumes, boat-shaped, clothed with short bristly hairs especially at the 

 upper part, coriaceous, persistent, pale green, becoming white, yellow, reddish-yellow or nearly black 

 as the grain ripens ; lower pale 3-nerved, blunt, acute or ending in a stiff smooth awn which often 

 exceeds the spikelet. Lodicules 2, broad, fleshy, semi-transparent. Stamens 6, hypogynous ; 

 anthers linear, protruding from the pales when in flower. Ovary smooth, tapering ; styles 2, about 

 as long as the ovary ; stigmas red, composed of rough spreading hairs. Fruit (the grain) enclosed 

 in, but not adhering to, the persistent pales, oblong-ovoid, smooth, somewhat compressed. 



The varieties which rice has developed are more numerous and more strongly 

 marked than those of any other crop. In the District of Bareilly about 47 distinct 

 varieties are enumerated, and it is probable that in the Provinces their number consid- 

 erably exceeds 100. Their names, however, vary so greatly from District to District as 

 to be of little or no assistance in identification, and hence no useful purpose would be 

 served by giving a list of them here. Judged by their leading characteristics the 

 varieties may be thrown into three classes — the first, including those with a tall habit 

 of growth, with the ear protruded from the sheath, feathery and drooping, and with 

 thin, usually yellow-husked grain ; the second, including varieties with a shorter habit 

 of growth and stouter stems, with the ear not so prominent and carried more erect than 

 that of the preceding, and with thick yellow or red-husked grain ; and the third, com- 

 prising the common varieties of paddy, with short, strong stems, ear partially enclosed in 

 the sheath and grain-husk dark coloured or black. 



The varieties of the first class are the most highly prized, the commonest being 

 those known as nalia, bdnsmatti, bdnsphal and jhilma. The seondhi and sumhdra are 

 the principal varieties of the second class, while saihi (so called from its growth covering 

 60 days) is far the most important of those included in the third class, and, if its area 

 be alone regarded, the most important of all the varieties. Muvji is a term of varying 

 meaning, denoting in some places {e.g., Muzaffarnagar) high class rice, and in others 



♦ References ;— Linn. Sp. Pi. Ed. I. 333 ; Roxb. Fl. lud. II. 200 ; Bentley and Trimen Med. PI. 291 ; Powell Punj. 

 Prod. 231 ; Drui y Useful PI. of Ind. 321. 



