Oryza rufipogon

Botanical Description

Oryza rufipogon is a perennial grass with elongated rhizomes; it can grow up to 2 metres tall. The plant produces a clump of scrambling stems that form new roots at the nodes[ 1040 Title The Wild Relatives of Rice, A Genetic Resources Handbook Publication Author Vaughan D.A. Website http://irri.org/ Publisher International Rice Research Institute; Philippines Year 1994 ISBN 971-22-0057-4 Description An excellent guide to the wild species of the genus Oryza. It gives good descriptions of the species, habitats etc and often gives details of uses. It can be downloaded from the Internet ]. Because they are a source of resistance to or tolerance of biotic and abiotic stresses, the most important use of the various species of wild rice is probably in breeding programmes to improve the species of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa, Oryza glaberrima). However, this species is also valuable for use as a food supplement in India and Sri Lanka, and as famine food when other crops fail. In many parts of South Asia, wild rice grains are used as an offering to Deities in the temples and can command a high price in the market where they are sold during religious festivals[ 310 Title Plant Resources of Southeast Asia Publication Author Website http://proseanet.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia. ]. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[ 338 Title IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Publication Author Website http://www.iucnredlist.org/ Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat. ].