Find answers to these questions and many more in the sections below. At maturity the rice plant has a main stem and a number of tillers. Each productive tiller bears a terminal flowering head or panicle. Plant height varies by variety and environmental conditions, ranging from approximately 0.4 m to over 5 m in some floating rices.
Brown rice consists mainly of the embryo and endosperm.
The surface contains several thin layers of differentiated tissues that enclose the embryo and endosperm. The palea, lemmas, and rachilla constitute the hull of indica rices. In japonica rices, however, the hull usually includes rudimentary glumes and perhaps a portion of the pedicel. Grain length, width, and thickness vary widely among varieties. Under aerated conditions the seminal root is the first to emerge through the coleorhiza from the embryo, and this is followed by the coleoptile.