THE WILD WHEAT OF PALESTINE 299 



a non-brittle rachis and which is therefore so like our cul- 

 tivated wheats that it differs from them in scarcely any- 

 thing except that it grows wild and maintains itself from 

 generation to generation without the aid of man. How- 

 ever, it may be urged against the likelihood of finding such 

 a wild wheat that our cultivated wheats, although grown 

 on such diverse soils, in such varied parts of the world, 

 and so extensively, have nowhere succeeded in escaping 

 from cultivation and maintaining themselves in the wild 

 state. It is also possible that the primitive wild ancestor 

 of our cultivated wheats has become extinct leaving be- 

 hind only close relatives such as Tfiticum hermonis. 

 However, the writer is inclined, tentatively at least, to 

 accept Aaronsohn's conclusion. At any rate there can be 

 no doubt that the wild wheat of Palestine has a better claim 

 to be considered the ancestor of our cultivated wheats 

 than any other known species. Even if, with the progress 

 of botanical knowledge, Triticum hermonis should prove 

 not to be the prototype we are seeking, this species will 

 doubtless be found to be extremely similar to that proto- 

 type. It must therefore continue to be one of the most 

 interesting of all plants. 



XI. Cross-Fertilization 



The wild wheat of Palestine differs from our common 

 cultivated wheats in that it is well adapted for cross-pol- 

 lination. Some of the flowers, says Cook,^^ have their 

 anthers pushed out beyond the glumes before the shedding 

 of the pollen, and, conversely, in some flowers the glumes 

 spread apart so that the pollen is admitted before the 

 anthers mature. The pushing outwards of the anthers 

 beyond the tips of the glumes allows the pollen to be scat- 

 is o. F. Cook, loc. cit., p. 51. 



