174 
Origin of Wheat. 
result of atmospheric influences. The excessive dryness which 
in that year prevailed from March until the autumn had a very 
prejudicial effect on cereals. 
For 12 consecutive years I have thus cultivated ^gilops 
triticoides and its products ; I have seen them gradually attain 
perfection, and become at last true wheat ( Triticum), and I have 
never seen a single plant reassume its primitive form, that of 
j^Lgilops ovata, L. This form never reappeared. 
Let us now recapitulate the series of modifications by which 
jT^. ovata became transformed into a sort of Triticum sativum 
(cultivated wheat). 
yE. ovata, as generally met with in a wild state, is glaucous in 
all its parts. Its flowering stems never exceed 20 or 25 centim. in 
height ; its upper leaves never reach the first tooth of the rachis 
of the ear ; the last is short and oval, has only 4 spikelets, and 
of these the 2 lower ones are alone fertile. 
Even in a wild state the grains of ovata give rise to the 
variety called triticoide.s, in which 1 or 2 of the awns of ovata 
disappear, so that the valves of the glume of the greater part of 
the spikelets have only 2 long awns instead of 4 in the lower 
spikelets. The outer membranous valve of the floret, instead of 
terminating in 3 awns, has only 1, at the base of which may be 
seen the 2 rudiments of those which are wanting. The other 
membranous valve is without a beard, and is ciliated at its apex. 
The ears are formed, like those of JE. ovata, of 3 or 4 spikelets, 
generally sterile, rarely fertile. The florets are herniapluodite, 
and enclose 3 stamens around a pistil, ending in 2 long silky 
stigmas. These florets are often sterile, in consequence of the 
abortion of the pistil. The fruit (grains) of those which are fertile 
is elongated, angular, very concave, and sometimes flattened on 
one side ; its colour is yellow, approaching blackness, like that 
of ovata, but is much longer, and is silky at the top. 
These grains, sown and cultivated for the first time, yielded 
plants 3 or 4 times as high ; their ears were cylindrical and 
much more elongated than those of the parent plant, and the valves 
of their glumes had only 2 awns, of which 1 was shorter than 
the other, and occasionally 1 was almost entirely absent, so that 
each glume had but 1 awn, as is the case with corn. Further, as 
in Triticum, the awns of the glumes of some of the plants were 
very long, whilst those of others were short. The plants moreover 
had the appearance of Triticum, and assumed its characters more 
and more. The spikelets, more numerous than those of the 
parent plant, were often sterile, and the few which were not had 
only 1 or 2 fertile flowers, so that the fertile spikelets only yielded 
1 or 2 grains. These grains, being sown, produced tlie next year 
more perfect plants. Their spikelets were more numerous than 
