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Monocotyledons / Monocotiledóneas
Triticum aestivum L.
EOL Text
Triticum aestivum, common or bread wheat, is an annual grass in the Poaceae (grass family) native to the Mediterranean region and southwest Asia, which is one of several species of cultivated wheat, now grown in temperate climates worldwide. Wheat one of the top two cereal crops grown in the world for human consumption, along with rice (Oryza sativa). (Corn, Zea mays, is grown in larger amounts than either rice or wheat, but a significant portion of it is used for livestock feed and biofuel, rather than human food).
Wheat is one of the most ancient of domesticated crops, with archaeological evidence of the cultivation of various species in the Fertile Crescent dating back to 9,600 B.C. The various species have been developed into thousands of cultivars (over 25,000, by one estimate) that differ in chromosome number from the primitive diploid types, with 7 pairs of chromosomes, to hybrid allopolyploids, with 14, 21, and 28 chromosome pairs. Cultivars are variously categorized according to their horticultural requirements (spring vs. winter wheat), texture and food uses (hard wheat, which often contains more gluten and is used for bread; vs. pastry or flour wheat, used for cakes, biscuits, and cookies), or by growth form and seed characteristics (the varieties aestivum, compactum, and spelta are among the six major categories recognized).
Wheat is high in carbohydrates, protein (although it lacks several essential amino acids), and vitamins B and E (if the grain is left whole) is used in countless breads and baked goods, and is an important source of calories for over 1 billion people in the world. Wheat can be refined into starch and wheatgerm oil, and wheat gluten (the proteins that make it sticky) is used in many products. Wheat is also used to make beer and as animal fodder.
The FAO estimates that global commercial production of all types of wheat was 650.9 million metric tons in 2010, harvested from 217.0 million hectares; it is grown on around 4% of the planet’s agricultural land. Leading producers were China, India, the U.S., the Russian Federation, and France. Within the U.S., the states that were leading producers include Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, and Washington.
(Bailey et al. 1976, FAOSTAT 2012, Flora of China 2006, Hedrick 1919, USDA 2012, van Wyk 2005.)
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Rights holder/Author | Jacqueline Courteau, Jacqueline Courteau |
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Naturalized plants of non-native Wheat are occasional throughout Illinois. Wheat originated from the eastern Mediterranean or the Middle East in Eurasia. It is a major agricultural crop. Occasionally, Wheat escapes from cultivation and self-sows. However, such escaped plants do not persist in the environment for very long. Typical habitats of such plants include fields, roadsides, areas along railroads, areas near grain elevators, and open waste areas. Sometimes Wheat is deliberately planted as a source of food for wildlife and to control erosion along roadside embankments until perennial grasses become established. Wheat thrives in highly disturbed areas with exposed topsoil.
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Rights holder/Author | Copyright © 2002-2014 by Dr. John Hilty |
Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/wheat.html |
Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) accounts for around 95% of the wheat grown in the world, with most of the remainder being Durum Wheat (T. durum) (Peng et al. 2011). Bread Wheat has both awned (i.e., with projecting glumes) and awnless forms. There are spring wheats (sown in spring and harvested in late summer) and winter wheats (sown in autumn and harvested in early summer). Grain color varies from yellow to red brown, but cultivars are usually described as white or red. They may also be classified as hard (vitreous endosperm) or soft (mealy endosperm). These characteristics are relevant to the milling process: milled particles from hard wheat flow freely through a sieve to produce a very clean flour; flour from soft wheat clumps together like fine powder and is difficult to sieve. Wheat flours are said to be strong (i.e., with relatively high protein content, which results in more elastic bread dough) or weak. Hard wheats are used to make bread; soft wheats are used for cakes, cookies, biscuits, and pastries.
To make leavened or porous bread, the basic ingredients are flour, water, yeast, and salt. These are mixed together to produce a dough which rises (because of yeast fermentation) and is then baked. Among the cereal grains, Bread Wheat is outstanding in its ability to produce leavened bread (other cereals, such as Rye and Durum Wheat, produce poorly leavened bread). This extraordinary ability depends on the wheat protein complex known as "gluten", which is elastic, expands during fermentation, and retains the released carbon dioxide to yield a porous bread. Without yeast, wheat flour produces a flat bread (e.g., the chapatis of the Indian subcontinent or matzah). The extraction of starch and gluten from the wheat grain or flour are well known industrial processes. Gluten may be added to bread to increase its protein content.
Some people suffer from coeliac disease, which results from a low tolerance for gluten (and therefore for wheat, Rye, Barley, and triticale).
(Vaughan and Geissler 1997)
(For more information, including background on the domestication and evolution of wheat, see Comprehensive Description and Triticum.)
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Rights holder/Author | Leo Shapiro, Leo Shapiro |
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Commonly cultivated, e.g., in fields of Hordeum and Triticum; below 3500 m.
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Rights holder/Author | eFloras.org Copyright © Missouri Botanical Garden |
Source | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200026445 |
This is the wheat that is used to make bread, pastry, and other food products. The grains are also used in making alcoholic beverages, industrial alcohol, and livestock feed. The old stems of wheat, or straw, is used as packing material, cattle bedding, mulch for gardens, and paper manufacturing. Because there are many varieties and subspecies of Wheat (Triticum aestivum), local populations of plants can vary somewhat in appearance. In particular, some varieties and subspecies of Wheat have abundant awns (referred to as 'Bearded Wheat'), while other varieties and subspecies are largely lacking in such awns. Wheat has been cultivated for thousands of years, beginning in the Middle East and ancient Egypt. From there, it eventually spread to Europe, and the European colonists brought wheat with them to North America. The closest relatives of Wheat in Illinois are the so-called wheatgrasses (Agropyron spp.), which were assigned to the Triticum genus at one time.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright © 2002-2014 by Dr. John Hilty |
Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/wheat.html |
Wheat attracts various insects that feed on the foliage, grains, roots, or plant juices. These insects include Chaetocnema denticulata (Toothed Flea Beetle), Diabrotica barberi (Northern Corn Rootworm), Myochrous denticollis (Southern Corn Leaf Beetle), and Oulema melanopus (Cereal Leaf Beetle); Sphenophorus callosus (Southern Corn Billbug), Sphenophorus destructor (Destructive Billbug), Sphenophorus minimum (Little Billbug), Sphenophorus parvulus (Bluegrass Billbug), and Sphenophorus venatus venatus (Hunting Billbug); Macrosiphum avenae (English Grain Aphid), Rhopalosiphum padi (Bird Cherry Oat Aphid), Schizaphis graminum (Greenbug), and Sipha flava (Yellow Sugar Cane Aphid); Euschistus servus (Brown Stink Bug), Euschistus variolarius (One-Spotted Stink Bug), and Oebalus pugnax pugnax (Rice Stink Bug); the shield bug Homaemus bijugis; Camnula pellucida (Clear-Winged Grasshopper), Dissosteira carolina (Carolina Grasshopper), Melanoplus femurrubrum (Reg-Legged Grasshopper), and Melanoplus sanguinipes (Migratory Grasshopper); and the caterpillars or cutworms of such moths as Achatodes zeae (Elder Shoot Borer Moth), Apamea amputatrix (Yellow-Headed Cutworm), Apamea finitima (Bordered Apamaea), Dargida diffusa (Wheathead Armyworm), Leucania pseudargyria (False Wainscot), Ochsenheimeria vacculella (Cereal Stem Moth), Peridroma saucia (Variegated Cutworm), and Rachiplusia ou (Gray Looper). A large number of geese, ducks, upland gamebirds, and granivorous songbirds eat the grains of Wheat (see the Bird Table for a listing of these species); this consists primarily of grains that have been left on the ground after harvest time. In addition, migrating geese often eat the young foliage of winter wheat along the Mississippi flyway during the spring. Among mammals, the grains are eaten by the Eastern Skunk, Spotted Skunk, Fox Squirrel, Eastern Chipmunk, Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel, House Mouse, Deer Mouse, and White-Footed Mouse. The Cottontail Rabbit and White-Tailed Deer sometimes browse on the young foliage. The young foliage can also be used as pasturage for cattle, horses, sheep, and other domesticated animals.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright © 2002-2014 by Dr. John Hilty |
Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/wheat.html |
This annual grass forms either solitary or tufted leafy culms about 2-3½' tall. These culms are light green, erect, terete, glabrous, and sometimes glaucous. Alternate leaves occur along the length of each culm. The flat leaf blades are 6-18 mm. across and 5-12" long; they are bluish or grayish green, glabrous, and sometimes glaucous. These blades are ascending, arching, or rather floppy. The bases of these blades often have rounded auricles with scarious (scar-like) wavy margins. The open leaf sheaths are bluish or grayish green, glabrous, and sometimes glaucous. On rare occasions, the lower leaf sheaths are pubescent. The ligules are short-membranous (about 1-2 mm. in length), while the nodes are swollen and glabrous. Each culm terminates in an erect floral spike about 2-4" long. The floral spikes are grayish or bluish green with darker markings; they are cylindrical-bristly in appearance. Each floral spike has multiple overlapping spikelets that are appressed against the rachis (central stalk of the spike); these spikelets are nearly erect. Each spikelet is 10-15 mm. in length, consisting of a pair of glumes at the bottom and 2-5 florets with lemmas above. The glumes are 9-11 mm. in length, ovate in shape, partially keeled, and glabrous. The lemmas are 10-13 mm. in length, ovate in shape, convex along their outer surfaces, and glabrous. Along the inner sides of the florets, are membranous paleas that are similar in size to the lemmas. At the apices of the glumes and lemmas, there are 1-2 small teeth. In some varieties of wheat, the glumes can have awns up to 30 mm. long, while the lemmas can have awns up to 80 mm. long. These awns are erect. Each floret consists of an ovary, a pair of feathery stigmata, and stamens. The blooming period usually occurs from late spring to mid-summer. The florets are cross-pollinated by the wind. They are replaced by grains that are 7.5-8.5 mm. long, 3.5-3.75 mm. across, and ovoid-ellipsoid in shape; the light-colored grains are convex on one side and incurved on the other side. The root system is fibrous.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Copyright © 2002-2014 by Dr. John Hilty |
Source | http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/wheat.html |
Foodplant / miner
larva of Agromyza mobilis mines leaf of Triticum aestivum
Other: sole host/prey
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Baliothrips graminum feeds on live ear of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / parasite
Blumeria graminis parasitises live Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Cephus pygmeus feeds within stem of Triticum aestivum
Other: major host/prey
Plant / resting place / within
puparium of Cerodontha lateralis may be found in leaf-mine of Triticum aestivum
Other: major host/prey
Foodplant / feeds on
adult of Chirothrips manicatus feeds on live ear of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / saprobe
Chytriomyces nodulatus is saprobic on submerged leaf of Triticum aestivum
Remarks: captive: in captivity, culture, or experimentally induced
Foodplant / saprobe
Entophlyctis aurea is saprobic on submerged leaf of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Helophorus nubilus feeds on Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / feeds on
adult of Limothrips cerealium feeds on live ear of Triticum aestivum
Remarks: season: 6-8
Other: major host/prey
Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Limothrips denticornis feeds on live leaf of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / sap sucker
Macrosiphum avenae sucks sap of live Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / feeds on
adult of Oulema melanopus/rufocyanea agg. feeds on leaf of Triticum aestivum
Remarks: season: 1-12
Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Phalacrus corruscus feeds on Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / pathogen
Pseudocercosporella herpotrichoides var. acuformis infects and damages Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / spot causer
linear, long covered by epidermis telium of Puccinia striiformis var. striiformis causes spots on live inflorescence of Triticum aestivum
Other: major host/prey
Foodplant / pathogen
perithecium of Pyrenophora seminiperda infects and damages seed of Triticum aestivum
Remarks: captive: in captivity, culture, or experimentally induced
Foodplant / spot causer
mycelium of Rhizoctonia cerealis causes spots on live stem of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / sap sucker
Rhopalosiphum padi sucks sap of Triticum aestivum
Foodplant / spot causer
crowded, arranged in rows or scattered, immersed, minute, fuscous pycnidium of Septoria coelomycetous anamorph of Septoria graminum var. crassipes causes spots on live leaf of Triticum aestivum
Remarks: season: 7
Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Trachelus tabidus feeds within stem of Triticum aestivum
Other: major host/prey
Foodplant / feeds on
larva of Zabrus tenebrioides feeds on Triticum aestivum
Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) accounts for around 95% of the wheat grown in the world, with most of the remainder being Durum Wheat (T. durum) (Peng et al. 2011). Bread Wheat has both awned (i.e., with projecting glumes) and awnless forms. There are spring wheats (sown in spring and harvested in late summer) and winter wheats (sown in autumn and harvested in early summer). Grain color varies from yellow to red brown, but cultivars are usually described as white or red. They may also be classified as hard (vitreous endosperm) or soft (mealy endosperm). These characteristics are relevant to the milling process: milled particles from hard wheat flow freely through a sieve to produce a very clean flour; flour from soft wheat clumps together like fine powder and is difficult to sieve. Wheat flours are said to be strong (i.e., with relatively high protein content, which results in more elastic bread dough) or weak. Hard wheats are used to make bread; soft wheats are used for cakes, cookies, biscuits, and pastries.
To make leavened or porous bread, the basic ingredients are flour, water, yeast, and salt. These are mixed together to produce a dough which rises (because of yeast fermentation) and is then baked. Among the cereal grains, Bread Wheat is outstanding in its ability to produce leavened bread (other cereals, such as Rye and Durum Wheat, produce poorly leavened bread). This extraordinary ability depends on the wheat protein complex known as "gluten", which is elastic, expands during fermentation, and retains the released carbon dioxide to yield a porous bread. Without yeast, wheat flour produces a flat bread (e.g., the chapatis of the Indian subcontinent or matzah). The extraction of starch and gluten from the wheat grain or flour are well known industrial processes. Gluten may be added to bread to increase its protein content.
Some people suffer from coeliac disease, which results from a low tolerance for gluten (and therefore for wheat, Rye, Barley, and triticale).
More wheat is produced annually than any other cereal crop. Overall, wheat is perhaps the single most important food crop for humans. It is grown throughout the temperate regions of the world, but only in the highlands of the tropics and subtropics. Major wheat producers include Russia, the United States, China, India, France, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Argentina.
Wheat is among the most ancient of domesticated crops. It was apparently derived from wild species in the Fertile Crescent of southwestern Asia around 8000 B.C., together with Barley (Hordeum vulgare) and pulses. Einkorn (T. monococcum) and Emmer Wheat (T. turgidum dicoccum) represent early lineages of domesticated wheats. The grains of these species retain their hulls after threshing. Today, Einkorn and Emmer are grown only to a very limited extent. Modern Bread Wheat (T. aestivum) and Durum Wheat (T. turgidum durum) are "free-threshing", producing naked grains. After Bread Wheat entered cultivation, it spread into Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Through most of the 16th century, wheat was confined to these continents, but in the subsequent two centuries it was taken to North and South America and to South Africa. Somewhat later, it reached Australia and New Zealand.
The ability of domesticated wheat to exchange genes with certain other grasses is a potentially serious concern in light of expanding efforts to incorporate herbicide resistance and other traits--beneficial traits we would not want transferred to weeds--in new wheat varieties using genetic engineering. Hegde and Waines (2004) reviewed available literature on the reproductive ecology of Bread Wheat and on introgression (infiltration of genes) between Bread Wheat and its wild relatives in the genus Aegilops and with feral Rye (Secale cereale) in North America. Willenborg and Van Acker (2008) discussed aspects of the biology and ecology of Bread Wheat that make the transfer of traits between cultivated wheat and weeds more or less likely.
(Vaughan and Geissler 1997)
Hegde, S.G. and J.G. Waines. 2004. Hybridization and Introgression between Bread Wheat and Wild and Weedy Relatives in North America. Crop Science 44: 1145-1155.
Peng, J.H.H., D.F. Sun, and E. Nevo. 2011. Domestication evolution, genetics and genomics in wheat. Molecular Breeding 28(3): 281-301.
Vaughan, J.G. and C.A. Geissler. 1997. The New Oxford Book of Food Plants (revised and updated edition). Oxford University Press, New York.
Willenborg, C.J. and R.C. Van Acker. 2008. The biology and ecology of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and its implications for trait confinement. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 88: 9971013.
(For more information, including background on the domestication and evolution of wheat, see Triticum.)
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Rights holder/Author | Leo Shapiro, Leo Shapiro |
Source | No source database. |
Triticum aestivum (wheat (grass)) is prey of:
Lepus californicus
Lepus townsendii
Calamospiza melanocorys
Based on studies in:
USA: California, Cabrillo Point (Grassland)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- L. D. Harris and L. Paur, A quantitative food web analysis of a shortgrass community, Technical Report No. 154, Grassland Biome. U.S. International Biological Program (1972), from p. 17.
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Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |