Emmer

Emmer wheat
Spikes (ears) of cultivated emmer wheat
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Triticum
Species:	T. dicoccum
Binomial name
Triticum dicoccum Schrank ex Schübl.
Synonyms
Spelta amylea (Ser.) Ser. Triticum amyleum Ser. Triticum armeniacum (Stolet.) Nevski Triticum arras Hochst. Triticum atratum Host Triticum cienfuegos Lag. Triticum dicoccum Schrank. Triticum dicoccoides Triticum farrum Bayle-Bar. Triticum gaertnerianum Lag. Triticum immaturatum Flaksb. nom. inval. Triticum ispahanicum Heslot Triticum karamyschevii Nevski Triticum maturatum Flaksb. nom. inval. Triticum palaecocolchicum (Menabde) L.B. Cai Triticum palaeocolchicum Menabde Triticum subspontaneum (Tzvelev) Czerep. Triticum tricoccum Schübl. Triticum volgense (Flaksb.) Nevski

Emmer wheat, also known as farro especially in Italy, or hulled wheat, is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (2n=4x=28 chromosomes). The domesticated species are Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum and Triticum turgidum conv. durum. The wild species is called Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccoides. The principal difference between the wild and the domestic species is that the ripened seed head of the wild species shatters and spreads the seed onto the ground while in the domesticated emmer the seed head remains intact, thus making it easier for humans to harvest the grain.

Along with Einkorn wheat, Emmer was one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East. It was widely cultivated in the ancient world, but is now a relict crop in mountainous regions of Europe and Asia.

Strong similarities in morphology and genetics show that wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides Koern.) is the wild ancestor and a crop wild relative of domesticated emmer. Because wild and domesticated emmer are interfertile with other tetraploid wheats, some taxonomists consider all tetraploid wheats to belong to one species, T. turgidum. Under this scheme, the two forms are recognized at subspecies level, thus T. turgidum subsp. dicoccoides and T. turgidum subsp. dicoccum. Either naming system is equally valid; the latter lays more emphasis on genetic similarities.

For a wider discussion, see Wheat#Genetics & Breeding and Wheat taxonomy

Wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides) grows wild in the fertile crescent of the Near East. It is a tetraploid wheat formed by the hybridization of two diploid wild grasses, Triticum urartu, closely related to wild einkorn (T. boeoticum), and an as yet unidentified Aegilops species related to A. searsii or A. speltoides.

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Wikipedia