What is the scientific name for rice?

"Oryza sativa" - Rice

"Zea mays" - Maize

"Triticum" - Wheat

"Solanum tuberosum" - Potato

"Oryza sativa", commonly known as Asian rice, is the plant species most commonly referred to in English as rice. Oryza sativa is a grass with a genome consisting of 430Mb across 12 chromosomes. It is renowned for being easy to genetically modify and is a model organism for cereal biology.

Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza glaberrima (African rice) or Oryza sativa (Asian rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in Asia and Africa. It is the agricultural commodity with the third-highest worldwide production (rice, 741.5 million tons in 2014), after sugarcane (1.9 billion tons) and maize (1.0 billion tons).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

13 Comments

Rob Orr

Great question - such a ubiquitous crop, yet a third of people (including me) don't know the answer - to me this is what makes trivia questions interesting

chipdhf

Excellent question and plausible answers. That’s how it’s done guys and gals

Char

I had no clue chose potato due to tuber lol oh well learned something new

Chris Braid

Very good Q and A. Remembered this ever since getting it wrong in a pub quiz!

Ilias Tsiabardas

That was easy for me because the Greeks call the Rice.( Oryza )(Ryzi)

John W Shreve

Rob Orr, Absolutely.

Claudia Heilke

Trudy Gourlay, but orzo is pasta. It just looks like rice.

Stephen W. Gerrard

Trudy Gourlay, same here!

Lisa Rodrigues

Niko Hilje, There are more than 40,000 varieties of cultivated rice (the grass species Oryza sativa) said to exist. But the exact figure is uncertain. Over 90,000 samples of cultivated rice and wild species are stored at the International Rice Gene Bank and these are used by researchers all over the world.

james parrillo

Trudy Gourlay, I thought of orzo but still chose tuberosum. Now, I may remember the correct option. Thank you, Christine, James's wife

Shirley Campbell

I learned something new. The name for rice. I love it in various ways to prepare it. Sad, I can no longer eat any grains. Màkes for an interesting diet. Now I eat 🥜 nut flour. No dairy either. I have to say hats off to the companies that are developing alternative foods.