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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-681
Rice
Oryza sativa
Rice is a fast-growing annual grass grown standing in flooded or saturated ground for most of its cycle, harvested for a grain eaten boiled or steamed, popped, or pressed for oil. Everything left over pulls its own weight: the straw goes to weaving, paper, construction and fuel, and the hull and bran skimmed off in milling become livestock feed in their own right. It exists only in cultivation - no wild population is known - and no amount of good soil or warm temperature can substitute for the season-long flooding it needs.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 2–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 4.5–9
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 1–5.9 ft
- Mature spread
- 10–14 in
- Plant spacing
- 18–24 in
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
Agrimony is a slender herbaceous perennial of sunny, disturbed ground across Europe and western Asia, grown mainly for the tannin-rich leaves…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
Angelica
Angelica archangelica
Angelica is a very large, short-lived umbellifer grown for its candied stem and aromatic root - the thick young stalks are peeled and boiled…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–7
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Anise is a single-season annual grown for its aromatic seed, which flavors bread, sweets and spirits like pernod and ouzo, while the young…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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