A Crop Reversion of an Invasion? (IMAGE) Washington University in St. Louis Caption Red rice (shown above) is a red-seeded weed that infests cultivated rice fields in the United States. Genetic studies had suggested the weed might be a reversion of a modern domesticated rice to a feral form, in part because the red grain was known to spontaneously appear in crop fields. Gross, Olsen and their colleagues have just published results in the online edition of Molecular Ecology that show red rice is not a reversion but instead an invasive rice that was never cultivated in the United States. Credit Kenneth M. Olsen Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.