Abstract
One of the japonica paddy rice (Oryza sativa L. 'Sasanishiki') was used as a material. The panicles were cut off when all of their tillers had completed headings so that the new shoots (NS), namely, the high nodal-position tillers (HNPT) started to grow. Total number of leaves (TNL) on main stem was 14.8. Each plant had 74.4 shoots including 51.0 HNPT. The number of elongated internodes (NEI) was 5±1 in every shoot produced before heading of main stem, whereas TNL of tillers was varied from 3 to 9. On the other hand, TNL and NEI decreased with the elevation of nodal position of HNPT. The number of non-elongated internodes (NNEI) was not varied so much as those of NEI or TNL. NNEI was 0 in the second (from the top) and the 3 rd tillers and also in almost all of the 4 th tillers. In the 5 th tillers, NNEI of the secondary, tertiary, and quartic tillers was 0, 1 and 2, respectively. This increase of NNEI may be due to the longer period of bud dormancy. Every prophyll internode which was located below the prophyll node became a non-elongated internode.
