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November 24, 2005 : Oryza sativa
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Keywords: Poaceae | Oryza sativa L. | John Davidson Seed Collection 114
Guest-blogging today is one of my colleagues, Eric La Fountaine. Eric's been responsible for the scanning of the seeds and John Davidson slides that have been shared to date on BPotD (along with many other tasks). – Daniel
You might not recognize the seeds in this image as a common food source – rice. Oryza sativa is a staple part of the diet of almost fifty percent of the world’s human population. Needless to say, understanding the genetics of rice is crucial to understanding and protecting this valuable resource.
Rice is a cultigen, a “species” that is the result of human hybridization and selection, i.e., Oryza sativa did not exist prior to human intervention. General consensus is that the wild progenitor of Oryza sativa is Oryza rufipogon (see: history of rice cultivation), though some scientists disagree (read the subsection on botany and origin of rice).
Botany resource link: The Saxifrage Society has an excellent site dedicated to the genus Saxifraga and relatives. The highlight is their database, Saxbase, which you can use to browse through (great) images of many of the plants.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at November 24, 2005 1:28 AM
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Posted by: Beverley at November 24, 2005 8:41 AM
My zone 9 is the Rosetta Stone of US rice country - like much else (sugar cane, oysters, crawfish) devastated in many ways by our two hurricanes (Katrina to some extent, Rita primarily). Rice can handle the flooding, but not the salt/brackish water.
Regards from the heart of french Acadiana.
Nancy
Posted by: nancy at November 24, 2005 8:23 PM
Please share your comments about the photograph(s) and accompanying write-up. Telling a story about the subject of the photograph(s) is also much appreciated! If you have a gardening question, the best place to ask is on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums. Thank you!
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Oryza sativa - Z10, RHS Index of Garden Plants, Griffiths