WHEAT 31 



which L is the total length of 10 internodes in milli- 

 meters. 



34. The spikelet. There are two or more flowers in 

 a spikelet, inclosed by two chaffy glumes. Usually two 

 or three kernels are matured, but there may be five or 

 more, as sometimes in club wheats. The glumes in wheat 

 are oval, instead of awl shaped as in rye. They vary 

 greatly in different varieties, and are therefore important 

 in classification. The color varies from light yellow to 

 black. They are glabrous or pubescent (velvet). They 

 may be firm and strongly keeled or membranous, and the 

 keel may end in a beak of varying length and sharpness. 

 The glumes of the terminal spikelet differ from the other 

 glumes (see Fig. 13). 



35. Flowers. The wheat flower has three stamens. 

 The anthers are versatile, that is, attached below the 

 middle to the tapering end of thread-like filaments in such 

 a way that they easily upset, each one thereby throwing 

 out the pollen masses through slits in its two portions. 

 There are two plume-like stigmas, which spread apart as 

 the flower opens, and one ovule. The sexual organs are 

 inclosed by two chaffy parts, an outer and lower one or 

 lemma, and an inner one or palea. The awn when pres- 

 ent is borne on the lemma; lodicules 2, obliquely ovate, 

 short, the lower portions fleshy, the upper membranous, 

 hairy on the margin. 



Wheat is usually self fertilized, but many natural 

 hybrids are known. Artificial pollination is readily 

 accomplished by removing the anthers before bursting 

 and applying to the stigmas pollen from a plant, the 

 anthers of which have just freed the pollen. A good 

 time for artificial pollination is in the early morning. 



36. The kernel. The wheat kernel is a dry indehis- 



