314 



COLLEGE BOTANY 



Asia, but this is not deiinitely known. It is said that the Chinese 

 grew wheat fiilly 2700 b.c. and " considered it a gift direct from 

 heaven." The ancient Egyptians and Greeks were familiar with 

 wheat, and it was also grown in Italy and Switzerland at an 

 early date. There is no known wild wheat that very closely re- 

 sembles our cultivated varieties, but 'the emmer of Syria shows 

 certain resemblances which have led some authors to consider 



Fia. 155. — Wheat production. 



it the prototype of our wheat. There are a number of species 

 and varieties of wheat (Figs. 154, 155). 



The wheat piroduction of the United States in 1915 was 

 1,011,505,000 bushels. Its uses are well known. 



Bye (Secale cereale) is an annual plant which is grovra ex- 

 tensively as a grain. The roots are fibrous, the stems toiigher, 

 longer and more slender than that of the wheat and the leaves 

 similar to those of the wheat. Each spikelet contains three 

 flowers, the two outer reaching maturity and the central ones 



