10 BULLETIN 1197, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICTJLTTJEE. 
in nursery experiments in the United States. Brief descriptions of 
these, as reported by Saunders (39), are here presented. 
BLACK WINTER. 
Black Winter emmer has awned inclined spikes and pubescent, 
bluish black glumes (PL I, B). The spikes are narrow from the face 
view of the spikelets, but wide in the other dimensions and usually 
3 to 4 inches long. The leaves are very pubescent. The plants are 
tall and late and the stems white or yellow. The awns are easily 
broken off at maturity, so that some spikes appear to be awnless. 
The rachis is fragile at maturity, necessitating care in harvesting to 
avoid losses from breaking of the spikes.^ Under very favorable 
conditions of soil moisture and fertility the spikes tend to branch, 
forming composite spikes. Under unfavorable conditions the black 
color of the glumes does not develop fully, and they become a dark 
brown or gray. 
Black Winter is quite susceptible to injury from stem rust. It is 
hardier than winter barley or winter oats but not as hardy as many 
varieties of winter wheat and frequently is partly or entirely winter- 
killed when grown in the Great Plains and Intermountain States. 
Black Winter (or Black Velvet) has long been known in Europe. 
It was advertised for many years by Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co., 
seedsmen, of Paris, France. About 79 pounds cd the Black Winter 
emmer were obtained from this firm by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture in 1904. After having been grown and increased 
for a few years it was distributed to farmers and experimenters. 
Prof. B. C. Buffum, of Worland, Wyo., obtained about 2 quarts of 
seed of Black Winter emmer from the department and sowed it in 
the fall of 1907. Only 72 plants survived the winter, but seed from 
12 of these plants was increased and later distributed as ''Buffum's 
Improved Black Winter" emmer. It is identical, however, with the 
original importation in all characters observed, including hardiness. 
Most of the Black Winter emmer which has been sown in the Great 
Plains area during recent years has been winterkilled. 
WHITE WINTER. 
White Winter emmer has slender awned spikes and glabrous white 
glumes. It matures at about the same time as Black Winter, but 
the plants are somewhat shorter. This variety (C. I. No. 3628; 
S. P. I. No. 34369) 2 was introduced by the United States Department 
of Agriculture in 1912. It was obtained from Vilmorin-Andrieux 
& Co., seedsmen, of Paris. 
BROWN WINTER. 
A variety of emmer having awned spikes and glabrous brown 
glumes has been developed in experiments at Moro, Oreg. This 
variety or strain was selected from a plat of Black Winter emmer 
(C. I. No. 2483) and apparently was the result of natural crossing. 
Another selection from the Black Winter variety had glabrous white 
glumes, but it was not grown in plat experiments. Brown Winter 
emmer has not been distributed for commercial growing. 
2 C. I. No. refers to accession numbers of the Office of Cereal Investigations: S. P. I. No. refers to accession 
numbers of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction (64). 
