58 BULLETIN 1074, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORY, DISTRIBUTION, AND SYNONYMY OF COMMON WHEAT 
VARIETIES. 
WINTER BLUESTEM. 
Description.—Plant winter habit, midseason, midtall; stem glaucous, white, 
strong; spike awnless, fusiform, middense, erect to inclined; glumes glabrous, 
yellowish white, midlong, wide; shoulders midwide, square to elevated; beaks 
nridwide, obtuse, 0.5 to 1.5 mm. long, slightly incurved ; apical awns few, 5 to 40 
mm. long; kernels white, midlong to long, soft to semihard, elliptical to ovate; 
germ small; crease midwide, middeep ; cheeks rounded ; brush small to midsized, 
' midlong. 
Lina Bluestem has the hardy winter characteristics of Turkey, but lacks 
gor and is usually a comparatively low yielder. 
= istory.—This variety originated at the Washington Agricultural Weperiment 
Station, Pullman, Wash., as the result of a cross between Turkey and Pacifie 
Bluestem (170, p.6). It was distributed for commercial growing by the Wash- 
ington Agricultural Experiment Station from 1912 to 1914. 
Distribution —Grown in the State of Washington to a very limited extent. 
MARTIN (MARTIN AMBER). 
Description.—Plant winter habit, midseason, tall; stem white, strong; spike 
awnless, linear-fusiform, lax, nodding; glumes glabrous, white, long, midwide; 
shoulders midwide, oblique to square; beaks wide, acute, triangular, 1.0 mm. 
long; apical awns few, 5 to 15 mm. long; kernels white, midlong, soft, ovate; 
germ small; crease midwide, middeep ; cheeks rounded ; brush midsized, midlong. 
This variety is distinguished from other winter varieties of the group by its 
long, lax, tapering spike. A pure line (C. I. No. 4463) has been isolated which is 
resistant to bunt. A spike of Martin wheat is shown in Plate VI, Figure 2. 
History—Martin (Martin Amber) originated from a single plant found as 
a mixture in a field of Clawson by Henry S. Bunnell, of Junius, Seneca County, 
N. Y., about 1875 (152). Several names were early applied to it. It was called 
Armstrong by R. T. Halloway, of Penn Yan, Yates County, N. Y., who first dis- 
tributed it in 1880 (16, p. 666). The variety, however, never became widely 
grown under that name. In 1882, J. A. Everitt, seedsman, of Watertown, Pa., 
named it Martin Amber and distributed it widely (16, p. 666). The variety 
became commercially established under that name. It was also distributed in 
1882 as Landreth, by David Landreth & Son, seedsmen, of Philadelphia, Pa. 
(152). 
Distribution.—Grown to a limited extent as Martin Amber in Arizona, Tahoe 
Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington, and 
under the names of synonyms in Kentucky, Missouri, New York, North Caro- 
lina and Tennessee. The distribution of Martin wheat is shown in Figure 19. 
Synonyms.—Amber, Armstrong, Landreth, Satisfaction, Silver Chaff, and 
White Amber. Amber and White Amber are local names used for the variety 
on farms in Idaho and Washington. The name White Amber is also used 
in Marion County, Ky. Armstrong and Landreth, as indicated above, are 
names given it by seedsmen many years ago, but are not now in use. Satis- 
faction is the name under which a similar wheat. was obtained by the United 
States Department of Agriculture, but this was evidently wrongly labeled 
and the name should not be used for this variety. Silver Chaff.is an old 
name for the variety (15) and was early recognized by the Ohio Agricultural 
Experiment Station as a synonym for Martin (Amber) (116). The variety 
is still grown under this name in Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, 
North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee, 
