Scientific Name of Wheat: Triticum Aestivum is the scientific name of Wheat (common wheat). Wheat is the most popular and significant cereal in the world for both human and animal nutrition. The archaeological evidence suggests that traces of the first wheat cultivation was in the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BCE. From then till now wheat is major grain and is grown globally in large amounts.
What is the Scientific Name of Wheat Plant?
Wheat is scientifically known as Triticum Aestivum (common wheat).
- The most frequently grown hexaploid species is common wheat, sometimes known as bread wheat (T. aestivum).
- Spelt is yet another hexaploid species that is hardly ever farmed. In this scenario, its botanical name would be T. aestivum ssp. spelta. Spelt is commonly thought of as a subspecies of common wheat (T. aestivum).
- Durum (T. durum) is the second most extensively grown variety of tetraploid wheat in the world today.
- Emmer (T. dicoccum) is a tetraploid species that was once widely used but is no more.
- Tetraploid wheat is known as Khorasan (T. turgidum ssp. turanicum, commonly known as T. turanicum).
- A diploid species having both wild and domesticated varieties is einkorn (T. monococcum). Associated with the domestication of emmer wheat.
Taxonomy of Wheat Plant
The Scientific Name of wheat is based on the following taxonomy tree:
|
Kingdom |
Plantae |
|---|---|
|
Clade |
Tracheophytes |
|
Clade |
Angiosperms |
|
Clade |
Monocots |
|
Clade |
Commelinids |
|
Order |
Poales |
|
Family |
Poaceae |
|
Sub-Family |
Pooideae |
|
Tribe |
Triticeae |
|
Genus |
Triticum |
|
Type Species |
Triticum Aestivum |
Characteristics of Wheat Plant
Following are the characteristics of a wheat plant are:
- It is a monocot as it contains only one cotyledon.
- Their fibrous root structure consists of several secondary roots that quickly replace the original root.
- The protective covering or husk of wheat mainly consists of fibres removed when wheat is milled, or flour is refined.
- When consumed as whole wheat, the body absorbs the majority of the minerals, proteins, and vitamins found in wheat’s external casing; but, during the refining process, they are lost.
- Testa the inner layer consists mainly of oils and dyes.
- The germ which is part of the inner layer consists of Vitamin of group B.
FAQs on the Scientific Name of Wheat Plant
Q: What is the subfamily, tribe and genus of Common Wheat?
Answer:
Common wheat or bread wheat (Triticum Aestivum) has Pooideae as its sub-family, Triticeae as its tribe and Triticum as its genus.
Q: What is the family of wheat?
Answer:
Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a member of the grass family (Poaceae = Gramineae). It does not have a separate family.
Q: What distinguishes Triticum Durum and Triticum Aestium?
Answer:
Within the genus, Triticum are two distinct species of grass: common wheat and durum wheat. Durum wheat is T. durum, a tetraploid variety of wheat with 4 sets of chromosomes as opposed to standard wheat (T. aestivum ), a hexaploid species containing 6 sets of chromosomes.
Q: What are the five domesticated species of Wheat?
Answer:
Carl Linnaeus identified five domesticated species.
- T. aestivum Bearded spring wheat
- T. hybernum Beardless winter wheat
- T. turgidum Rivet wheat
- T. spelta Spelt wheat
- T. monococcum Einkorn wheat