Oryza sativa Seeds | Black Madras Rice
LATIN NAME: Oryza sativa
COMMON NAME: Black Madras Rice, Purple-leaved Rice
Plant Profile
Among the ornamental and useful plants raised from seed, Black Madras Rice (Oryza sativa) stands out as an upright, annual in the grass family, native to warm regions of the Asia, while it has been cultivated as an ornamental grass for its dark foliage. During flowering it gives bees and other insects a dependable food source. Add these qualities together and you have a species well worth a place in the garden.
Science & Biotechnology
Botanists studying the grass family regularly include Oryza sativa in comparative work, and the species also appears in horticultural trials aimed at gardeners and growers. The Black Madras rice has a real and distinguished place in research. Interest from collectors and breeders has never lapsed, and good seed continues to circulate.
Uses & Benefits
Black Madras Rice brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. The Black Madras rice is an upright, annual grass of warm regions, bearing long, narrow, dark-purple leaves and drooping panicles of small flowers in late summer. Its graceful, arching habit gives a fine presence in water garden and border, and its dark foliage provides a striking contrast with green plants, while its tolerance of wet conditions makes it a valuable plant for water feature. To raise the Black Madras rice, sow seeds on surface of pots of wet, open soil in a warm, bright place, keep them standing in water, and grow little grasses on in the warmth. Given the right start, it carries on with minimal intervention.
Rice feeds half the world, and its forms carry medicine: rice germ and bran supply gamma-oryzanol and vitamin E, red yeast rice contains natural monacolins, and sprouted brown rice is a studied functional food.
Growing from Seed
Raising Black Madras Rice from seed is straightforward. Sow the seed evenly over the surface and cover lightly, using a loose, well-drained seed compost, and keep it just moist in bright light until the seedlings are well up. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
Black Madras Rice repays a little patience at sowing time with plenty of garden presence later.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Black Madras Rice often pair it with these related subjects: