Taxonomy of Wheat - Early Taxonomy

Early Taxonomy

Botanists of the classical period, such as Columella, and in sixteenth and seventeenth century herbals, divided wheats into two groups, Triticum corresponding to free-threshing wheats, and Zea corresponding to hulled ('spelt') wheats.

Carl Linnaeus recognised five species, all domesticated:

• T. aestivum Bearded spring wheat
• T. hybernum Beardless winter wheat
• T. turgidum Rivet wheat
• T. spelta Spelt wheat
• T. monococcum Einkorn wheat

Later classifications added to the number of species described, but continued to give species status to relatively minor variants, such as winter vs. spring forms. The wild wheats were not described until the mid-19th century because of the poor state of botanical exploration in the Near East, where they grow.

The development of a modern classification depended on the discovery, in the 1920s, that wheat was divided into 3 ploidy levels.