102 ORD. LI. Gramina.  TRITICUM HYBERNUM. 
very short awns, which distinguish the Lammas from the Spring wheat (Tri- 
ticum sativum) which has awns three inches long: they contain from three 
to four florets, three of which are usually productive. The outer valve of 
* the corolla is concave and pointed, the inner one flat, blunt, and two-toothed ; 
The filaments are capillary: anthers, linear and forked: the germen turbi- 
nate, bearing a short style, crowned with feathery stigmas ; the seed or grain 
is oval or elliptical, with a narrow channel along the upper side. Fig. (d) 
the germen and calyx, magnified ; (e) the flower expanded and magnified. 
The native country of this valuable grain is entirely unknown: it has, 
however, been conjectured from the nature and habits of wheat, that it may 
have been originally a native of Asia; but it is pretty certain that Sicily 
was the part of Europe where it was first cultivated, It will not vegetate 
beyond the 62° of northern latitude, nor will it often form an ear below the 
~ elevation of 4,500 feet, or ripen at above 10,800 feet under the equator. 
In England, wheat is chiefly cultivated in the counties of Essex, Kent, 
Norfolk, Suffolk, Herefordshire, Hampshire, and Berkshire. Wheat thrives 
best in rich clays, and heavy loams, and in favorable seasons, on good lands, — 
the bashel of grain will weigh from 60 to 62 pounds. Several varieties of 
wheats are grown in this country; but the Winter or Lammas is the most 
productive, and hence most esteemed by agriculturists. 
Chemical Properties, &c. Flour, or the farinaceous part of the seed, is 
separated from the husk or bran, after the operation of grinding, by means 
of sieves of various degrees of fineness. Flour, when good, is insipid, and 
nearly inodorous, and constitutes more than two-thirds the weight of the seed. 
Wheat-flour consists principally of gluten, starch, albumen, and a sweet 
mucilage. Its constituents may be separated by forming the flour into a 
paste with a little water, and washing this paste with fresh quantities of 
water, until it runs from it colourless. What remains, is the gluten, which, 
if not the same, is very analogous to, the fibrine of animal substances. 
From the water with which the paste is washed, a white powder (Amylum) 
separates on standing: thealbumen and sweet mucilage may be obtained: 
by total evaporation. It is the presence of gluten which characterises 
By some botanists, Spring and Winter-wheat are considered as varieties only, not as 
distinct species. The latter is the most productive, and is generally cultivated on that 
account, for there is no material difference between the grains they produce, either che- 
mical or medicinal—hence they are indiscriminately ecpeherel for every purpose. 
