288 THE WHEAT PLANT 



Grain, mealy, yellowish-red, roundish, 7 mm. long, 4 mm. broad. 



A winter form is also described by Werner, with upright young shoots 

 and slightly hairy, yellowish-green leaves. 



Straw, 115-140 cm. high ; thick- walled. 



Ear, very lax, narrow, 10-13 cm. long, dark and greyish-blue, with awns 

 8-10 cm. long. 



Grain, flinty, long, and narrow, 8 mm. long, 3 mm. broad. 



Both the above forms are very susceptible to rust. Many of their morpho- 

 logical characters suggest a close relationship to T. turgidum. 



Ears bearded ; glumes black, pubescent ; grain red. 



T. vulgare, var. fuliginosum, Korn. Handb. d. Getr. i. 48 (1885). 



A very rare variety, which Kornicke found only in Botanic Gardens. 



Straw, tall, 116-132 cm. (46-52 inches) high, solid. 



Ear, 5-7 cm. long, flattish ; spikelets 16-20, broader than long. 



Empty glume, inflated, black, clothed with fine hairs ; upper part of the 

 flowering glume black, lower part reddish. 



Grain, mealy, plump, yellow. 



Although Metzger refers this to T. vulgare, he notes that it possesses some of 

 the features of T. turgidum. 



The solid straw, broad spikelets, inflated glumes, and plump, rounded, 

 starchy grains suggest close affinity with T. turgidum. 



Werner (Handb. d. Getr. ii. 378) describes a winter form with erect, quad- 

 rangular ears 10 cm. long, pale yellow or reddish-yellow glumes, their margins, 

 keel, and apical tooth blue ; awns blackish, spreading, 9 cm. long ; grain starchy, 

 yellowish-red, oval, 7 mm. long, 4 mm. broad ; it appears to be closely allied to 

 T. turgidum. 



Flaksberger (Bull. App. Bot. viii. 197) mentions forms of var. fuliginosum, 

 with glumes having black hairs on a yellow ground, occurring in Turkestan and 

 the Tiflis province of Transcaucasia. 



BEARDLESS VARIETIES 



As explained elsewhere (p. 104), there are comparatively few varieties of 

 wheats whose flowering glumes are totally devoid of awns, most of the so-called 

 beardless forms having awns varying in length from -5 to 2-5 cm., those with the 

 longest, which are always found near the apex of the ear, are conveniently 

 described as " tip-bearded." 



It is among the beardless varieties that the most prolific wheats are found, 

 and it is largely on this account that these, rather than bearded forms, are grown 

 on the intensively cultivated lands of Western Europe. 



The beardless varieties exhibit a much greater range of variability in all 

 their characters than bearded wheats. In regard to the density of the ear, all 

 grades are found in cultivation between the most open, lax ears and the dense 

 Squarehead types. By far the greater number of forms belong to the varieties 

 lutescens, milturum, and albidum. 



