196 BULLETIIvr 1074, U. S. DEPAKTMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
pedicel (joint of the rachis) is long and wide, and after thrashing 
remains attached to the face of the spikelet below the one which it 
bears. The spikelets are two-kerneled, arched on the inner side, 
and closely appressed to the rachis. The kernels, which remain in- 
closed in the glumes after thrashing, are pale red, long, and laterally 
compressed, and have an acute tip and a narrow, shallow crease. 
Spelt is grown commercially only to a slight extent in America. 
The varieties often called " Speltz " in this country are not spelt 
but emmer. A few varieties chiefly grown experimentally are sepa- 
rated in the following key : 
KEY TO THE VARIETIES OF SPELT. 
Spike Awnless. 
Glumes Glabeous. 
Glumes White {Trificum spelta album Al.). Page. 
Spring Habit White Speing 196 
Winter Habit .1 Alsteoum 196 
Glumes Beown (T. s. riifum AL). 
WiNTEE Habit Red Wintee 197 
Spike Awned. 
Glumes Glabeous; White (T. s. arduinil AL). 
Wintee Habit Beaeded 197 
DESCRIPTIONS, HISTORY, AND DISTRIBUTION OF SPELT VARIETIES. 
white speing. 
Description. — ^Plant spring habit, late, midtall ; stem white, strong; spike 
awnless, linear-fusiform, lax, erect; glumes glabrous, white, midlong, wide; 
shoulders wide, square; beaks wide, obtuse, 0.5 mm. long; awns few, 1 to 8 
mm. long; kernels red,- long, semihard, elliptical, humped, curved, inclosed in 
glumes ; germ small ; crease wide, shallow, pitted ; cheeks angular ; brush mid- 
sized, long. 
A spike, glumes, a spikelet, and kernels of White Spring spelt are shown in 
Plate LIX, A. 
History. — Obtained by the Department of Agriculture from J. ]M. Thorburn 
& Co., seedsmen, of New York City, in 1904. 
DistrWution-. — Grown in experiments in North Dakota, but not known to 
be grown commercially. 
alsteoum. 
Description. — Plant winter habit, late, midtall; stem faintly purple, strong; 
spike awnless, linear-fusiform, lax, inclined to nodding ; glumes glabrous, white, 
midlong, narrow ; shoulders midwide, square ; beaks obtuse, 0.5 mm. long ; apical 
awns usually wanting ; kernels red, long, semihard, elliptical, humped, curved, 
inclosed in glumes; germ small; crease wide, shallow; cheeks angular; brush 
midsized, long. 
Alstroum differs from White Spring spelt chiefly in having a winter habit. 
History. — ^Alstroum spelt was obtained by the United States Department of 
Agriculture in 1901 from the Washington Agricultural Experiment Station, Pull- 
man, Wash. Its further history is undetermined. 
