XXIII. 



RYE. 



479. Relationships. — The commonly cultivated species oi r}'e 

 {Secale cereale L.) has its outer glumes shorter than the flowering 

 glume ; while in another species {S. fragile Biberst) to be found 

 in Hungary and southern Russia, there is a long awn on the 

 outer glume extending beyond the flowering glume. Both species 

 are annual. According to Hackel, the original species (5. nion- 

 tamim Guss) extends from Spain and Morocco to central Asia. 

 It is perennial and the rachis breaks apart upon ripening, both 

 of which characters are lost under cultivation. It is said that 

 r}'e stubble allowed to stand a long time in the field will sprout 

 again ; while this never happens with wheat and barley because 

 the original fonns are annual. Rye is more closely related to 

 wheat than to any other cereal, although differing from it in 

 several particulars. 



480. The Plant. — When a grain of r}-e genninates it throws 

 out a whorl of four instead of three temporary roots ; a fact 

 which may in some way account for its greater hardiness. Its 

 culms are longer, more slender, and tougher than those of wheat. 

 The r}-e spikelet is only two-flowered and both flowers develop 

 about equally, making the spike rather uniformly four-rowed. 

 The outer glumes are awl-shaped instead of boat-shaped, as 

 in the case of wheat. The flowering glume is always awned 

 and the keel of the glume is strongly barbed. A r}-e spike is 

 rather longer than a wheat spike, being usually four to six inches 

 long, not counting the beards. The joints of the rachis are 

 rather farther apart, there being twenty to thirty in a single 

 spike. Unlike wheat, the lower spikelets are fertile and produce 



