Family:
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus:
Triticum L.
Species:
Triticum aestivum L.

Triticum aestivum subsp. sphaerococcum (Percival) Mac Key

This subspecies is accepted, and its native range is a cultigen from S. Pakistan to NW. India.

[GB]
Morphology General Habit
Annual. Culms 70-100 cm long. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Leaf-sheath auricles falcate. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades 10-16 cm long; 12-15 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; rough adaxially.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 1; single; oblong; bilateral; 4-6 cm long. Rhachis tough; flattened; ciliate on margins. Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis. Rhachis internodes oblong. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 4-6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 10 mm long; persistent on plant.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 4-6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 10 mm long; persistent on plant.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate; 8-12 mm long; 1 length of upper glume; coriaceous; 2-keeled; keeled above; 5-9 -veined. Lower glume apex with a unilateral tooth. Upper glume ovate; 8-12 mm long; 0.9-1 length of adjacent fertile lemma; coriaceous; 2-keeled; keeled above; 5-9 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins divergent at apex. Upper glume apex with a unilateral tooth.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Fertile lemma ovate; 8 mm long; coriaceous; without keel; 9-11 -veined. Lemma apex awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 3-20 mm long overall. Palea 2 -veined. Palea keels ciliolate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Anthers 3. Ovary with a fleshy appendage below style insertion; pubescent on apex.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; ovoid, or orbicular; 4-5.5 mm long; hairy at apex. Hilum linear.
Distribution
Asia-temperate: western Asia. Asia-tropical: India.
Reference
Triticeae. Fl Iran 1993.

Native to:

India, Pakistan, West Himalaya

Introduced into:

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq

English
Shot Wheat

Triticum aestivum subsp. sphaerococcum (Percival) Mac Key appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 48: 586 (1954)

Accepted by

  • Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6. Scientific Data 8: 215.

Literature

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Ahmed, Z.U. (ed.) (2008). Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh 12: 1-505. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  • Bor, N.L. (1968). Flora of Iraq 9: 1-588. Ministry of Agriculture & Agrarian Reform, Baghdad.
  • Bor, N.L. (1970). Flora Iranica 70: 1-573. Naturhistorisches Museums Wien.
  • Kandwal, M.K. & Gupta, B.K. (2009). An update on grass flora of Uttarkhand. Indian Journal of Forestry 32: 657-668.
  • Karthikeyan, S., Jain, S.K., Nayar, M.P. & Sanjappa, M. (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio: Monocotyledonae: 1-435. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.

  • GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    Common Names from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Living Collection https://www.kew.org/

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0