When looking at the great impact that the rice plant had on history, it is truly astonishing. Rice has been responsible for feeding people over a great time period dating as far back as 2500 B.C. This is longer than almost any other crop in the world. Besides it being a food, rice is also responsible for being a source of tradition as well. Originating in China, and the surrounding areas, the cultivation of the rice plant spread throughout Sri Lanka, and India. From there, it as then passed on to Greece and the Mediterranean area. The rice plants journey didn’t stop there. It was then spread throughout Southern Europe and some areas of North Africa. This is a basic breakdown as to how the rice plant started to spread throughout the world. The rice plant could be taken to many parts of the world thanks to the versatility that is has. Rice can grow iv very dry conditions, such as Saudi Arabia, al the way down to the wetlands of Southeast Asia. This made it very appealing to people all over the world and is a major chiastic as to why it was so popular.
When looking at the Morphology of the rice plant, it is unique. As known, rice is a grass plant that forms its root system in a fibrous since. These roods are bearing long up word standing culms that develop long flat leaves off them. As mentioned before, this plant can endure dry conditions and aquatic conditions making it very versatile. The main time period as to when the plant needs water is during the reproductive growth phase. During this phase, the rice plant begins to emerge the multiple tillers. These tillers consist of culm and leaves, and they may be with or without a panicle. The panicle can be found to emerge on the uppermost node of the culm, located within a flag leaf sheath. From there, this is where the flowers and spickelets are found. When looking at the culm, it is mainly made up of multiple nodes along with internodes that are hollow. These are responsible for changing its shape, length and width, in order to allow it to run up the length of the entire culm. The primary tillers are responsible from coming out of the nodes that are found near the bottom, or base, of the main culm. The secondary and tertiary tillers form from in sequence from the primary tillers. The leaves of the rice plant form from the culm, and they also have a sheath. This sheath encloses the culm and the leaf blade that is flat. Located between the sheath and the blade of the leave, one can find a collar, or juncture, between the two. Inside of this junctura are auricles that develop. They can be found near the base of the leaf blade. It is also important to note that rice plants vary from all over the world, thus cultivars need to note that variance in length, color, width, etc. will vary. When the pinnacles emerge from the plant, they can be found coming out of the flag leaf sheath and they can consist of a central rachis with primary branches. These branches can be up to four at each node. The branched that have the flowers spikelets on them are the primary and secondary branches. Looking at the spikelets, one can find that each individual spikelet has one singular floret that has about glumes on it. The keeled lemma encloses the rigid can extend to form what is called an awn and that is partially enveloped by the smaller palea. The floret to the rice plant only has about six stamen that is accompanied by a single plumose ovary. This ovary has two branches. The actual rice grain has an embryo, testa, pericarp, and an endosperm that are all surrounded by the husk. Depending on the type of plant, the grain size can vary from 5 to 7 mm in length and the shape can change as well. For instance, the grain from one rice plant can be bold and round, while the grain from another rice pant is thin and much slenderer.
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Another interesting thing to mention is the ripening process of the grain. This is when the grain reached full maturity and is ready to be harvested and consumed. The first step is to wait until the florets of the plant are fertilized and the ovaries begin to change and develop into grins. In the beginning, the grain starts to appear to have a white milky fluid. This due to the starch being deposited in the grain. While this is all happening, the panicles are still green and then they begin to droop and lean down. After this, the grain starts to get noticeable harder. It does not get rock hard, rather it has the texture closely related to soft dough. From there the actual husk of the plant begins to yellow and the senescence of both the tiller and the leaves reach the highs point. From here is when the rice plant enters the final stage where the grain begins to fully mature. It becomes much harder and loses the moisture that it has and becomes dry. Not only does the grain become dry. The entire rice plant changes from a rich green to a yellow and it too begins to dry out. This is a major signal to farmer that the rice grain is ready to be harvested.
The reproductive development of the rice plant starts with the panicle initiation. The panicle inhiation starts to happen at the tip of the tiller on the rice plant. The panicles begin to grow inside the sheath. After this, the three leaves develop, but this only occurs before heading occurs. In this situation, the panicle may full come out, or it could partially come out. The flowering of the rice plant tends to occur a day or two after heading and it will continue al the way down the panicle for about a week (several days). This will happen until all the panicles and the florets have opened. At this point, the rice plant will start to experience anthesis with the opening of the florets. From there, the stamen will start to elongate. This will typically last a few hours. It is also important to note that the temperature can influence this process. For instance, on colder days the rice plant reproductive development can take longer. Some even mention that on cloudy days, this will make the process longer as well. As the pollen begins to shed off the rice plant, and the florets are open, the pollen tends to fall into the same panicle. This results in self-fertilization. The entire fertilization process takes roughly ten hours to be completed. When at this stage of its reproductive development, the rice plant is most sensitive the surrounding temperatures, especially if it is cold outside.
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