Like other varieties of rice, jasmine rice is a grass which is cultivated in water logged paddies. During the harvest season, the long stalks of the rice are cut and threshed to remove the rice, which can be left in a hulled form and sold as brown rice, or shucked and sold as white rice. This rice has been bred for easy harvest, and unlike wild rice species, it will not shatter when it ripens, which would scatter the grains into the water that the rice grows in, making them impossible to harvest. Depending on when the rice is harvested, the flavor varies: many consumers prefer spring rice, which has a more delicate, refined flavor, especially when cooked very fresh.