194 BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



KEY TO THE VARIETIES OF EMMER. 



Spike Awxed. Page. 



Glumes Glabrous. 



Glumes White (Triticum dicoccum. farrum Bayle). 

 Spring Habit. 

 Straw white. 



Plant early, short Khapli 194 



Straw purple. 



Plant late, midtall Vernal 194 



Glumes Pubescent. 



Glumes Black (T. d. atratum Al.). 



Winter Habit Black Winter 195 



DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND SYNONYMY OF EMMER VARIETIES. 



KHAPLI. 



Description. — Plant spring habit, early, short; stem white, midstrong; spike 

 awned, broadly oblong, middense, inclined; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, 

 narrow ; shoulders midwide, oblique to elevated ; beaks wide, obtuse, 0.5 mm. 

 long; awns white, 2 to 12 cm. long; kernels red, long, hard, elliptical, acute, 

 humped, curved, usually remaining in the glumes when thrashed ; germ small ; 

 crease narrow to midwide, shallow ; cheeks usually rounded ; brush small, long. 



Khapli differs from the common White Spring emmer chiefly in being earlier 

 and in having shorter stems and wider spikes. 



History. — A sample of this emmer was first obtained in 1908 by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture from Hoshungabad, Central Provinces, India. Seed was 

 grown at University Farm, St. Paul, Minn., and the variety has proved of in- 

 terest and value for breeding, because of its immunity from stem rust. The 

 variety has yielded well in experiments in South Dakota. 



Distribution. — Grown to' a slight extent in South Dakota and at several 

 experiment stations. 



Synonym. — Kathiawar is an emmer similar to Khapli. It was obtained in 

 1914 and again in 1915 (197, S. P. I. Nos. 39227 and 40919) by the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, from the district of Kathiawar, north of Bombay. 

 It is said to grow wild in Kathiawar, a very dry district on the west coast of 

 India, but there is no proof of this. 



VERNAL (WHITE SPRING.) 



Description. — Plant spring habit, late, midtall; stem purple, midstrong; spike 

 awned, fusiform, middense, nodding ; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, midwide ; 

 shoulders midwide, oblique ; beaks wide, obtuse, 0.5 mm. long ; awns white, 

 2 to 12 cm. long; kernels red, long, hard, ovate to elliptical, acute, humped, 

 usually remaining in the glumes when thrashed ; germ small ; crease narrow to 

 midwide, shallow ; cheeks usually rounded; brush small, long. 



A spike, glumes, a spikelet, and kernel of Vernal (White Spring) emmer are 

 shown in Plate LVIII, A. 



History. — The origin of emmer dates from prehistoric times. In historic 

 times it seems to have been cultivated first in Switzerland. It is now grown 

 extensively in Germany and Russia, where the White Spring emmer as above 

 described is the most common variety. It is not known when this variety was 

 first brought to the United States, but it was grown by farmers in the northern 

 Great Plains States probably as early as 1875. In recent years its cultivation 

 has greatly increased. It has long been called White Spring, but is here named 

 Vernal. 



