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The objectives of this study were (1) to determine if hybridization occurs naturally between cultivated rice and a closely related weed, red rice (both Oryza sativa L.) and (2) to determine the incidence of hybridization and possible convergence of red rice with cultivated rice. Both morphological and electrophoretic characters were used to confirm the existence of hybrids. A total of 12,000 seeds were collected from red rice plants from fields of six different rice cultivars and sown in a common garden. Hybrids were generally taller and had longer, wider flag leaves than either red rice or cultivated rice. In addition, hybrids produced more tillers than red rice. Overall, hybrids were vegetatively robust plants, demonstrating heterosis and expressing morphological characteristics of both parents. That these plants were hybrids was confirmed by the existence of electrophoretic banding patterns common to both synthetic and …