1 76 THE WHEAT PLANT 



The produce of the thrashed ears, i.e. the husked grain or " Vesen," 

 consists of about 80 per cent of caryopses and 20 per cent of chaff (pieces of 

 rachis and glumes). From 450 to 480 caryopses weigh 10 grams. 



The caryopses are yellowish and flinty, flattened from side to side ; they 

 measure about 7 mm. long, 1-8-2 mm. through from side to side, and 3 mm. 

 from front to back. 



The average ratio of length, breadth, and thickness = 100:27-1 : 42-8 

 respectively. 



Glumes pale yellow, scabrid, dull. 



T. monococcum, var. flavescens, Korn. Handb. d. Getr. i. 112 

 (1885). 



T. monococcum, a. alba spica glaberrima, Lam. Enc. ii. 560 (1786). 



The commonest representative of this variety (3, Fig. 117) is known as 

 Engrain double in France, into which country Heuze says it was introduced 

 from Spain about 1850. It is a spring form with caespitose young shoots. The 

 plants ripen from 15 to 20 days earlier than the preceding variety when both 

 are sown at the same time either in autumn or spring. The coleoptile is 

 colourless and the young foliage leaves much broader than those of other 

 varieties, being from 10 to 12 mm. wide. The auricles are fringed with a few 

 long hairs and, like the leaf-sheaths, usually pale green ; the leaf-sheaths have 

 long hairs sparsely distributed over their surfaces. The straw is strong and 

 hollow, with thick pithy walls and of medium height, reaching a length of 

 100-115 cm. (40-45 inches) or more. On the nodes are spreading deflexed 

 hairs. 



The ears are pale straw colour, usually 5-6 cm. long, less densely packed 

 on the rachis and thicker than those of var. vulgar e. D = about 50. 



The spikelets are broad, 4-5-5 mm. across, and in some ears many of them 

 contain two well-developed caryopses. The " Vesen " have a less proportion 

 of " husk " than those of the Common Small Spelt, averaging 16 per cent husk 

 to 84 per cent of true grain. 



The coarse empty glumes have characteristic rough dull surfaces, on which 

 are minute papillae ; the keel and outer nerves are strong and scabrid ; their 

 apical teeth not so acute as in other varieties. 



The flowering glume of the second flower possesses a short awn 2-5 mm. 

 long, that of the first or lower flower having an awn 3-6 cm. long. 



The caryopses are longer and broader than those of var. vulgar e. The 

 ventral surface of the grain is broader and flatter and the furrow more easily 

 seen than in those of the previously mentioned varieties. They measure 8-8-5 

 mm. in length, 2-5-3 m m. in width, and 3-3-5 mm. from front to back ; from 

 340 to 350 weigh 10 grams. 



The average ratio of length : breadth : thickness = 100 : 33-3 : 39'3- 



Kornicke's variety laetissimum appears to be merely a small pale-eared form 

 of \ar.flavescens. 



