Triticum compactum

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Triticum compactum
Triticum compactum0.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Triticum
Species:
T. compactum
Binomial name
Triticum compactum
Host
Subspecies

Triticum compactum or club wheat is a species of wheat adapted to low-humidity growing conditions. T. compactum is similar enough to common wheat (T. aestivum) that it is often considered a subspecies, T. aestivum compactum. It can be distinguished by its more compact ear due to shorter rachis segments, giving it its common name. In the United States of America, nearly all T. compactum is grown in dry areas of the Pacific Northwest.

T. compactum is a hexaploid with 42 chromosomes. T. compactum, like other club wheats, has been selectively bred for its lower protein content. Due to the process of selective breeding T. compactum has fewer HMW-glutenin genes than other species of wheat. Flour made from T. compactum is thus better suited for the production of cookies. [1] T. compactum like other bread wheats have never been observed to grow in the wild. [2]

History

Middle East and Europe

The oldest primitive forms of T. compactum appear to have first arisen, along with similar wheats, in neolithic Syria. [2] [3] [4] From Syria T. compactum spread to Europe and was considered to be the oldest wheat species cultivated in Europe until the 1940s when older tetraploid varieties of wheat were identified. [5] T. compactum appears in Europe for the first time during the Neolithic Era reaching as far as Spain by 4600 BC. [6] Evidence of T. compactum in Portugal [7] and France [8] demonstrates that the Romans cultivated T. compactum on the Iberian peninsula during the first and second centuries BCE. Evidence of T. compactum found along with barley in an east Finnish settlement reveals that T. compactum was cultivated in Finland starting between fifth and seventh centuries AD. [9]

North America

T. compactum was believed to have been introduced to North America from Chile by Pacific shipping routes during the 1960s and '70s. [10] However analysis of adobe bricks in San Antonio, San Fernando, Soledad, San José, San Juan Bautista and Sonoma missions revealed that T. compactum was present in California by the year 1787 and was likely introduced by Spaniards through Mexico. [11] T. compactum was farmed extensively during the beginning of California's agricultural history. Data even suggests that T. compactum was farmed more than the related T. aestivum during this time. T. compactum erinaceum, also called California Club Wheat, was a bearded, hairy rachis, red-chaffed subspecies of T. compactum that is thought to have disappeared before 1822. [12] As production of American wheat drastically increased during the early twentieth century [13] T. aestivum rose in popularity surpassing T. compactum. Today most T. compactum is grown alongside T. aestivum because of their similar nature.

Morphology

Ears of T. compactum Usdacompactum.jpg
Ears of T. compactum

T. compactum is small free-threshing club wheat with rounded grains. [8] In T. compactum, like other bread and club wheats, there is a keel on the upper section of the otherwise flat glume. [5] T. compactum characteristically has a smaller, crooked crease than other species of wheat and smaller cheek size at the brush end. [3]

Identification

T. compactum is identifiable from T. aestivum mainly by its shorter rachis segments and compact ear for which it is named. [1] The now extinct subspecies of T. compactum, T. compactum erinaceum or California club wheat, can be distinguished from other subspecies by its red chaff and hairier rachides. [12] The below chart indicates the physiological factors that can be used to distinguish between various subspecies and varieties of T. compactum: [14]

Triticum compactum
Spike awnless
Glumes glabrous
Glumes white
Kernels white
Triticum compactum humboldtii
Soft to semihard
Winter habit

Hybrid 128

var. Albit

Intermediate habit

Hybrid 143

Spring habit
Plant short

var. Poso

Plant tall

var. Little club

var Big club

Semihard to hard

Hybrid 63

Kernels red
Glumes brown
Kernels white
Triticum compactum rufulum
Winter habit

var. Genro

Spring habit
Spike oblongfusiform
spike middense

var. Hood

spike dense

var. Jenkin

Spike clávate
Glumes lightbrown

var. Redchaff

Glumes bluishbrown

var. Bluechaff

Glumes pubescent
Glumes brown
Kernels white
Spike awned
Glumes glabrous
Glumes brown
Kernels red

Fossilized specimen

Most ancient T. compactum was cultivated between the Neolithic era and the Bronze Age and thus the most common evidence of ancient T. compactum is carbonized. Although carbonized wheat may often resemble its unfossilized counterpart and can often be identified with the same methods described above it is sometimes difficult to distinguish carbonized wheat this way due to a damaged or incomplete specimen. As a general rule, if a naked wheat, wheat with round grains and irregularly broken rachis forming internodes, is uncovered in a European site, excluding all sites on the Italian or Balkan peninsulas, it should be considered a hexaploid club wheat (either T. aestivum or T. compactum ). If such wheat has short internodes it should be identified as T. compactum. [15]

Agronomy

In the northern hemisphere Triticum compactum generally flowers during the months of June and July with its seeds ripening in August and September. Triticum compactum is an annual plant growing to heights of approximately 0.6 meters in the summer and dying in the winter. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheat</span> Genus of grass cultivated for grain

Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a staple food around the world. The many species of wheat together make up the genus Triticum ; the most widely grown is common wheat. The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BC. Botanically, the wheat kernel is a caryopsis, a type of fruit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rye</span> Species of grain

Rye is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than other cereals, making it useful in those regions; its vigorous growth suppresses weeds and provides abundant forage for animals early in the year. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) which includes the cereals wheat and barley. Rye grain is used for bread, beer, rye whiskey, and animal fodder. In Scandinavia, rye was a staple food in the Middle Ages, and rye crispbread remains a popular food in the region. Europe produces around half of the world's rye; relatively little is traded between countries. A wheat-rye hybrid, triticale, combines the qualities of the two parent crops and is produced in large quantities worldwide. In European folklore, the Roggenwolf is a carnivorous corn demon or Feldgeist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Einkorn wheat</span> Primitive wheat

Einkorn wheat can refer either to a wild species of wheat (Triticum) or to its domesticated form. The wild form is T. boeoticum, and the domesticated form is T. monococcum. Einkorn is a diploid species of hulled wheat, with tough glumes ('husks') that tightly enclose the grains. The cultivated form is similar to the wild, except that the ear stays intact when ripe and the seeds are larger. The domestic form is known as "petit épeautre" in French, "Einkorn" in German, "einkorn" or "littlespelt" in English, "piccolo farro" in Italian and "escanda menor" in Spanish. The name refers to the fact that each spikelet contains only one grain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmer</span> Type of wheat

Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid. The domesticated types are Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum and T. t. conv. durum. The wild plant is called T. t. subsp. dicoccoides. The principal difference between the wild and the domestic forms is that the ripened seed head of the wild plant shatters and scatters the seed onto the ground, while in the domesticated emmer, the seed head remains intact, thus making it easier for people to harvest the grain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaff</span> Protective casings of the seeds of cereal grain

Chaff is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil, or burned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durum wheat</span> Species of wheat used for food

Durum wheat, also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat, is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it represents only 5% to 8% of global wheat production. It was developed by artificial selection of the domesticated emmer wheat strains formerly grown in Central Europe and the Near East around 7000 BC, which developed a naked, free-threshing form. Like emmer, durum wheat is awned. It is the predominant wheat that grows in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spelt</span> Species of grain

Spelt, also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khorasan wheat</span> Species of grass

Khorasan wheat or Oriental wheat is a tetraploid wheat species. The grain is twice the size of modern-day wheat, and has a rich, nutty flavor.

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The founder crops or primary domesticates are a group of flowering plants that were domesticated by early farming communities in Southwest Asia and went on to form the basis of agricultural economies across Eurasia. As originally defined by Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, they consisted of three cereals, four pulses, and flax. Subsequent research has indicated that many other species could be considered founder crops. These species were amongst the first domesticated plants in the world.

<i>Aegilops</i> Genus of grasses

Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family, Poaceae. They are known generally as goatgrasses. Some species are known as invasive weeds in parts of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common wheat</span> Species of plant

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During 10,000 years of cultivation, numerous forms of wheat, many of them hybrids, have developed under a combination of artificial and natural selection. This diversity has led to much confusion in the naming of wheats. Genetic and morphological characteristics of wheat influence its classification; many common and botanical names of wheat are in current use.

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<i>Triticum carthlicum</i> Species of grass

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triticum compactum erinaceum</span> Extinct subspecies of grass

Triticum compactum erinaceum, also called California Club Wheat or Mayview wheat, is an extinct subspecies of the hexaploid club wheat Triticum compactum. T. compactum erinaceum was a bearded, hairy rachis, red-chaffed wheat named for its appearance similar to that of a hedgehog. T. compactum erinaceum was thought to have disappeared before 1822. However data from the United States Department of Agriculture indicates two additional specimen that were discovered and identified as T. compactum erinaceum more than a hundred years after their presumed disappearance. The new specimen indicate that T. compactum erinaceum was grown in the United States until the Dust Bowl era, at which point it presumably disappeared. There have only been four recorded specimens of T. compactum erinaceum.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient grains</span> Small, hard, dry seeds used as food

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References

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