Wheats of the World
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A selection of species of wheat that are, or were,
cultivated in different parts of the world are occasionally grown
in the cereal cage. Five of the species are tetraploid
wheats, the other five, plus Bread Wheat, are hexaploid.
Most are "free-threshing" but three, notably Spelt and Macha
and Vavilovi Wheats retain the hard shell or 'hull'
of the early wheat
species and make the extraction of the grain a more difficult task. |
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Tetraploid Wheats (28 chromosomes)
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Hexaploid Wheats (42 chromosomes)
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Durum
Wheat
The second most commonly grown wheat, after
Bread Wheat. Typically grown in areas with
mild winters and warm summers.
Triticum durum
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Rivet
or Cone WheatMainly
grown in Spain, Southern France and Italy.
Similar to a poor quality Durum wheat and
unsuitable for baking purposes.
Triticum turgidum
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Spelt
or DinkelA
tall wheat with hard shelled grain, not threshing
free. Small quantities are now grown for health
products, especially in Germany.
Triticum spelta
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Macha
WheatA
rather variable spelt-type wheat discovered in
1929 growing in West Georgia and the Caucasus.
Triticum macha
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Vavilovi
WheatA
rare spelt-type wheat grown in Armenia. The
spikes are unusual as they are often branched.
Triticum vavilovi
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Polish
WheatA
tall wheat originally from the Mediterranean
area and preferring a warm climate. Spikes
with long papery bracts and long seeds.
Triticum polonicum
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Persian
WheatA
flexible stemmed wheat inclined to fall over.
Grown in some parts of Turkey, Iraq and Iran.
Triticum carthlicum
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Oriental
WheatGrown
in parts of the Middle East and Central
Asia. Narrow hairy leaves, often has black awns.
Tricum turanicum
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Indian
Shot WheatA
wheat with short stiff stems and small, almost
round grains. Grown in Northwest India and Iran.
Triticum sphaerococcum
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Club
WheatA
wheat with compact spikes and small grains.
Grown in Abysinia and Turkestan and parts of
Austria and Switzerland.
Triticum compactum
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Of the ten species included above, only Durum Wheat, Triticum
durum, is cultivated widely as it is used for the production
of pasta products. The remaining species were more commonly cultivated
in the past, although often restricted to limited areas, such as
the Vavilovi Wheat of Armenia. Photographs taken at the Mill in
2006 show a selection of the species grown that year with seed spikes
in early July and ripened plants in
August.
Bread
WheatA
larger plot of Bread Wheat is grown each year
for demonstration in another section of the cage., Triticum
aestivum, is now the most widely cultivated wheat in the
world, grown in most temperate regions. Over many years, newer varieties
have been developed that have a greater yield than many of the older
traditionally grown wheat species. This has led to a replacement
of the traditional species by bread wheat in some parts of the world,
with a subsequent loss of the older types from cultivation. This
loss of species diversity may mean that useful characteristics,
such as fungal resistance or lodging resistance, of some of these
older wheats could be lost to wheat scientists. Seed banks, such
as those held by the John
Innes Centre, are therefore important for maintaining reserves
of these species for possible use in future wheat breeding programs.
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