Triticum compactum
| Triticum compactum | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| (unranked): | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Tribe: | Triticeae |
| Genus: | Triticum |
| Species: | T. compactum |
| Binomial name | |
|
Triticum compactum Host |
|
| Subspecies | |
T. compactum humboldtii
T. compactum erinaceum
T. compactum wernerianum
T. compactum rufulum
T. compactum wittmaddanum
Triticum compactum or club wheat is a species of wheat adapted to low-humidity growing conditions. T. compactum is similar enough to common wheat (T. aestivum) that it is often considered a subspecies, T. aestivum compactum. It can be distinguished by its more compact ear due to shorter rachis segments, giving it its common name. In the United States of America, nearly all T. compactum is grown in dry areas of the Pacific Northwest.
T. compactum is a hexaploid with 21 chromosomes. T. compactum, like other club wheats, has been selectively bred for its lower protein content. Due to the process of selective breeding T. compactum has fewer HMW-glutenin genes than other species of wheat. Flour made from T. compactum is thus better suited for the production of cookies.T. compactum like other bread wheats have never been observed to grow in the wild.
The oldest primitive forms of T. compactum appear to have first arisen, along with similar wheats, in neolithic Syria . From Syria T. compactum spread to Europe and was considered to be the oldest wheat species cultivated in Europe until the 1940s when older tertraploid varieties of wheat were identified.T. compactum appears in Europe for the first time during the Neolithic Era reaching as far as Spain by 4600 BC. Evidence of T. compactum in Portugal and France demonstrates that the Romans cultivated T. compactum on the Iberian peninsula during the first and second centuries BCE. Evidence of T. compactum found along with barley in an east Finnish settlement reveals that T. compactum was cultivated in Finland starting between fifth and seventh centuries AD.
T. compactum was believed to have been introduced to North America from Chile by Pacific shipping routes during the 1960s and '70s. However analysis of adobe bricks in San Antonio, San Fernando, Soledad, San José, San Juan Bautista and Sonoma missions revealed that T. compactum was present in California by the year 1787 and was likely introduced by Spaniards through Mexico.T. compactum was farmed extensively during the beginning of California's agricultural history. Data even suggests that T. compactum was farmed more than the related T. aestivum during this time. T. compactum erinaceum, also called California Club Wheat, was a bearded, hairy rachis, red-chaffed subspecies of T. compactum that is thought to have disappeared before 1822. As production of American wheat drastically increased during the early twentieth centuryT. aestivum rose in popularity surpassing T. compactum. Today most T. compactum is grown alongside T. aestivum because of their similar nature.
...
Wikipedia