EMMER 191 



Two, or occasionally three, are present in each spikelet. 



The colour of the grain is chiefly white, yellowish, or red as in other 

 races, but in recently harvested grains of the Abyssinian varieties Arraseita 

 and Schimperi it is a deep purple tint, the anthocyan pigment being present 

 in the " chlorophyll layer " of the peri- 

 carp, and to a lesser extent in some of the 

 adjacent parenchyma. 



The grains are comparatively narrow 



Mtt 

 MM 

 M M 



FIG. 126. Grains of Emmer (T. 

 dicoccum). Front, back, and 

 side views (nat. size). 



and pointed at both ends and more or less 

 laterally compressed, with a flattish or hollowed 

 ventral surface and a narrow furrow (Figs. 

 126, 127) ; each has a conspicuous " brush " 

 of hairs. A cross section of the grain is some- 

 what triangular, with fairly distinct basal angles. 

 In some varieties the endosperm is flinty, in 

 others mealy. 



Well-developed grains measure from 7-2 to 

 9 mm. in length, 2-85 to 3-4 mm. in width, and 

 2-6 to 3-1 mm. through from front to back. They 

 are slightly more compressed laterally than the 

 grains of Dinkel or Large Spelt (T. Spelta) ; 

 the average ratio of length, breadth, and thick- 

 ness = 100 : 37-7 : 34-1. 



The produce of the thrashed ear of the 

 " spelt " forms, i.e. the " husked " grain or 

 ' Vesen," consists of 73 to 75 per cent of cary- 



FIG. 127. Grains of the opses an d 2I to 2 r per cent o f c h a ff (glumes 

 spikelets or one side or , _ . * . i r 



an ear of Emmer (T. and pieces or the rachis), and weighs from 40 



dicoccum) (nat. size). to ^ fc g per hectolitre. 



