Barth'S Rice

Description

Oryza barthii, also called Barth's rice, wild rice, or African wild rice, is a grass in the rice genus Oryza. It is an annual, erect to semierect grass. It has leaves with a short ligule (<13 mm), and panicles that are compact to open, rarely having secondary branching. The inflorescence structure are large spikelets, 7.7-12.3 mm long and 2.3-3.5 mm wide, with strong awns (up to 20 cm long), usually red. The inflorescences have anthers 1.5-3 mm long. This wild rice grows in sub-Saharan Africa, and is found in mopane or savanna woodland, savanna or fadama. O. barthii grows in deep water, seasonally flooded land, stagnant water, and slowly flowing water or pools; it prefers clay or black cotton soils, and is found in open habitats. It is the progenitor of cultivated Oryza glaberrima, African rice. Recently, the genome of O. barthii was sequenced.