THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 3 



wheat. This is the hypothesis that accounts for most of the 

 facts involved. All of the grass family, Gramineae, are easily 

 distinguished by having only one seed leaf, and for this rea- 

 son they are known as monocotyledons. 



The wild animal grasses, Aegilops, found in such abundance 

 in southern Europe, and resembling true wheat in every point 

 except in size of grain, are considered as the nearest kin to 

 wheat. Efforts have been made to develop wheat from ovata, 

 the most typical species. Fabre of Agde, France, claimed that 

 in 1838 he began to improve this plant by selection, and that 

 by 1846 he had obtained a very fair sample of wheat. His 

 results have not been supported by other conclusive experi- 

 ments, and scientists generally have not accepted them. There 

 was doubtless cross-fertilization. 



The accompanying figure represents different stages in the 

 evolution of wheat. 1 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHEAT PLANT 



The above sketch from a photograph shows : (1) ^Egilops ovata, a small dwarfed 

 specimen, but one grain of wheat in each head, found in Southern Europe; 

 (2) The same species better grown and developed ; (3) Triticum spelta, the 

 cultivated spelt of Europe ; (4) Triticwn Polonicum l Polish wheat or giant 

 rye ; (5) Head of Nebraska wheat. While this is an instructive comparison, 

 i is very questionable whether ITo. 5 could be developed from No. 1 in a rea- 

 sonable number of years. 



1 Minn, Bui, 62, p. 81, 



