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Oryza rufipogon, known as brownbeard rice and red rice is a member of the the genus Oryza. It is thought to be the ancestor of Oryza sativa, the rice grown as a major food crop throughout the world. O. rufipogon is listed as a "noxious weed" by the United States[1], and is listed as a noxious weed in Alabama, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, oregon, South Carolina, and Vermont. According to the North American Plant Protection Association, O. rufipogon blends in with cultivated O. sativa so well that it cannot be detected. In this position it competes with the cultivated rice and uses valuable fertilizer and space. O. rufipogon sheds most of its seeds before the harvest, therefore contributing little to the overall yield. In addition, the rice grains produced by the plant are not eaten by consumers, who see it as a strange foreign particle in otherwise white rice. [2]
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