Triticum aestivum
Triticum spelta
ble commun, ble cultive, bread wheat, common wheat, soft wheat, wheat
dinkel, grand épeautre, spelt, épeautre
14-150 cm;
nodes glabrous or pubescent;
internodes usually hollow, even immediately below the spikes.
80-120 cm;
nodes glabrous or pubescent;
internodes hollow, even immediately below the spikes.
6-15(20) mm wide, glabrous or pubescent.
12-20 mm wide, sparsely pubescent.
(3.5)6-18 cm, usually thicker than wide to about as thick as wide, wider than thick in compact forms;
rachises shortly ciliate at the nodes and margins, not disarticulating.
6-20 cm, about as wide as thick, slender, almost cylindrical, narrowing distally;
rachises glabrous or sparsely hairy at the nodes and margins, disarticulating with pressure, disarticulation units barrel-shaped or wedge-shaped.
10-15 mm, appressed or ascending, with 3-9 florets, 2-5 seed-forming.
12-16 mm, with 3-5 florets, 1-3 seed-forming.
6-12 mm, coriaceous, loosely appressed to the lower florets, usually keeled in the distal 1/2, sometimes prominently keeled to the base, terminating in a tooth or awn, awns to 4 cm;
lemmas 10-15 mm, toothed or awned, awns to 12 cm;
paleas not splitting at maturity.
5-10 mm, coriaceous, tightly appressed to the lower florets, truncate, with 1 prominent keel, keel winged to the base, terminating in a tooth;
lemmas 8-12 mm, toothed or awned, awns on the lower 2 lemmas to 10 cm, the third lemma sometimes awned, awns to 2 cm;
paleas not splitting at maturity.
mealy to flinty.
usually flinty.
AuBD.
AuBD.
= 42.
= 42.
Triticum aestivum
Triticum spelta
Triticum aestivum is the most widely cultivated wheat. Both winter and spring types are grown in the Flora region. In addition to being grown for bread flour, T. aestivum cultivars are used for pastry-grade flour, Oriental-style soft noodles, and cereals.
Club wheats, sometimes called Triticum compactum Host, are cultivated in the Pacific Northwest for export to Asian markets. They have short (3.5-6 cm), compressed spikes, with up to 25 spikelets having 2-6 florets. Their spike shape varies from oblong or oval with uniformly distributed spikelets to club-shaped with spikelets crowded towards the apex.
No wild hexaploid progenitors of Triticum aestivum are known, but the two distinguishing characteristics of wild Tritcum species, fragile rachises breaking into wedge-shaped units and closely appressed glumes, are found in plants cultivated in Tibet and named T. aestivum subsp. tibetanum J.Z. Shao.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
In the Flora region, Triticum spelta is grown for the specialty food and feed grain markets. It is known for yielding a pastry-grade flour not suitable for bread making unless mixed with T. aestivum, the bread-quality flour. Modern plant breeding programs are improving its gluten profile to upgrade its bread-making quality. Consequently, claims that T. spelta is a safe option for consumers with gluten intolerance should be treated with caution.
The ability of Triticum spelta to break under pressure into barrel-shaped units similar to those found in Aegilops cylindrica distinguishes it from all other members of Triticum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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