SOME NEW VARIETIES OF RICE. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE RICE PLANT. 
Most of the varieties of rice cultivated in this country belong to 
the species Oryza sativa L. They are annual grasses with fibrous 
roots extending outward and downward in all directions from the 
crown, which is located about U inches above the lower end of the 
culm. The distribution of the roots usually is 
outward and very near the surface of the soil. 
Under normal conditions most of the roots do not 
extend to a 'greater depth than 3 to 5 inches. 
When grown without irrigation and before the 
irrigation water is applied when irrigated, the 
roots penetrate the soil more deeply than when 
the soil is submerged. Adventitious roots (Fig. 
1, B) arise from the first, second, and third nodes. 
They are more conspicuous in some varieties than 
in others and often are produced under irrigation 
when the water level is suddenly lowered or raised. 
The culms of the rice plant are erect, cylindrical, 
and hollow, with solid nodes. They vary in length 
from approximately 2 to 6 feet, depending largely 
upon the variety, but to a certain extent upon the 
soil and probably other factors. The number of 
culms to a plant varies greatly, usually ranging 
from 3 to 12. The wall of the culm in the lower 
internodes is thick. That of the peduncle, below 
the panicle, is much thinner but still strong. In 
color the internodes are light green to yellowish 
green. They are sometimes streaked with brown 
or purple. The nodes usually are darker green or 
brown. 
The leaves vary in number from five to eight. 
As a rule, there are six, including two basal leaves, 
one of which may wither and become detached 
before the plant matures. The sheath nodes, or 
swollen bases of the leaf sheaths (Fig. 1, A), are 
conspicuous and usually a light green. The 
sheaths (Fig. 1, C), which are open in part, are 
much shorter than the blades. They are green 
and occasionally marked with purple on their 
inner surface near the base. The auricles are 
hairy and prominent (Fig. 2, 5), and may be 
light yellow or green, cartilaginous or membra- 
nous. The ligules (Fig. 2, A) are prominent, 
light yellow or sometimes light green, acute or 
obtuse, and often split for their entire length. 
The blades (Fig. 2, D) vary in width from a little 
less than half an inch to 1 inch and in length from 16 to 20 inches. 
They are erect or ascending, usually the latter, and prominently 
veined. Their surfaces are glabrous or puberulent, though some- 
times rough, particularly toward the apex. The apex is acute or 
acuminate. Narrow blades are characteristic of the short-grain 
varieties of rice. 
Fig. 1.— A part of 
the two lower in- 
ternodes of a culm 
of rice, showing 
sheath node (A). 
adventitious roots 
(B), and leaf 
sheath (C). The 
leaf sheath has 
been removed to ex- 
pose the adventi- 
tious roots. (Nat- 
ural size.) 
