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Rice🌾
Oryza sativa
イネ
An annual grass cultivated as Japan's staple food for thousands of years. The japonica variety grown in paddy fields is predominant in Japan, believed to have been introduced from the Asian continent during the Yayoi period. Rice is fundamental to Japanese food culture, used in cooked rice, mochi, sake, and miso, while rice cultivation has shaped Japan's rural culture, festivals, and landscape.
Identification Points
- ✓Herbaceous plant with slender stems grown in paddy fields
- ✓Leaves are linear with auricles and ligules at the leaf sheath
- ✓Panicle droops with numerous spikelets (unhulled grains) arranged in succession
- ✓Multiple stems (tillers) emerge from the base
Habitat
Paddy fields and wetlands
Season
June–November (growing season), September–October (harvest)
3D Specimen Model
Kyushu University, Shikano Lab (CC0)
View on Sketchfab→Morphological TraitsAI-estimated, needs verification
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Parallel
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Linear
Growth form
Herb
Petal fusion
No petals
Habitat
Aquatic
Leaf dissection
Undivided
Ovary position
Superior
Phylogenetic Positionイネ科 →
Phylogenetic Position
Angiosperms > Monocots > Commelinids > Poales > Poaceae
Divergence Era
Late Cretaceous to Paleogene (approx. 80–70 million years ago)
Evolution Notes
Poaceae appeared approximately 70 million years ago and flourished with the expansion of grasslands. Rice originated in tropical Asia, and prolonged domestication produced diverse cultivar groups including japonica and indica.
View on evolution timeline →Sources & References
AI-generated, needs verification