
What are the parts of a wheat plant?
Wheat leaves form at each node and include a leaf sheath that wraps around the stem and a leaf blade. Wheat has small auricles. These wrap around the stem at the point where the leaf sheath meets the leaf blade. Spike The spike (also called the ear or head) forms at the top of the plant. A spike usually has 35-50 grains (or kernels). Grain
What is another name for the plant wheat?
This article is about the plant. For other uses, see Wheat (disambiguation). Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain which is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus Triticum; the most widely grown is common wheat ( T. aestivum ).
What does a spike of wheat look like?
The spike (also called the ear or head) forms at the top of the plant. A spike usually has 35-50 grains (or kernels). Wheat grain typically weighs 30-60 mg (i.e., 30-60 g/1000 grains) depending on variety and growing conditions. Reduced grain size often indicates moisture stress during grain filling.
What is the food value of a wheat plant?
The food value of a wheat plant lies in the rows of starch-filled grains or seeds, called the 'ear', at the top of the plant. Each ear of wheat has about 40 grains.
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What is the crown of wheat plant?
The crown is the series of nodes with short internodes that forms usually below the surface of the soil. A tiller may be formed from each node in the crown, the number of tillers thus being determined by environment and variety.
What are wheat stalks called?
tillersWheat grows many leaves and sends up 3-12 stems called tillers. A group of flowers called a spike develop at the top of each tiller and mature into the wheat head.
What are the four basic parts of a wheat plant?
The wheat plant has four basic parts—roots, stem, leaves, and head. The roots anchor the plant in the soil, absorbing water and nutrients and transporting them to the stem. The stem supports the head and helps transport nutrients and water throughout the plant.
What are the parts of a wheat plant called?
Investigating the Different Parts of a Wheat Plant & Their Functions : The wheat plant has 4 basic parts: the head, stem, leaves, and roots. Each serves a different purpose for the wheat plant.
What are the three parts of wheat?
All whole grain kernels contain three parts: the bran, germ, and endosperm. Each section houses health-promoting nutrients. The bran is the fiber-rich outer layer that supplies B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
What is wheat culm?
A culm is the aerial (above-ground) stem of a grass or sedge. It is derived from Latin culmus 'stalk', and it originally referred to the stem of any type of plant.
What part of wheat plant do we eat?
Biologically speaking, the kernel, also known as the wheat berry, is the seed from which a wheat plant grows. The majority of kernels produced are not planted back into the ground, but are ground into flour and made into tasty wheat products for consumers around the world to enjoy.
What is the structure of wheat?
Wheat grain has three main parts: endosperm, germ and peripheral layers. The endosperm (80–85% of the grain) is mainly composed of starch granules embedded within a protein matrix.
How many kernels are in a head of wheat?
that wheat plants, on the average, develop about five heads; that each head, on average, develops about 22 kernels; and. that there are an average of 16,000 kernels per pound.
How many heads does a wheat plant have?
A strong stand of wheat will have between 50 and 66 good heads per square foot. Having a stand that is over that number quite often leads to a lodged crop of wheat – and under, we need to encourage tillering to reach maximum yield potential.
What are the 3 parts of a wheat grain?
All whole grain kernels contain three parts: the bran, germ, and endosperm.
What is stalk in grain?
The dried stalks of grains such as wheat and barley; in the Bible, particularly the fragments remaining after the completion of the threshing operation.
What is wheat culm?
A culm is the aerial (above-ground) stem of a grass or sedge. It is derived from Latin culmus 'stalk', and it originally referred to the stem of any type of plant.
What part of wheat is harvested?
Parts of a Wheat Kernel Wheat kernels are also called wheat berries, and these seeds are the parts of the plant that are harvested to make flour.
What part of the wheat plant do we use?
While only the heads of wheat plants contain enriching human foods, farmers usually harvest the dried stems and leaves for use as hay, which provid...
What is the wheat stem called?
tillersThe wheat plant grows many leaves and sends up 3 to 12 stems called tillers. A group of flowers called a spike develop at the top of each ti...
What are the parts of the wheat seed?
This seed (which industry calls a “kernel”) is made up of three key edible parts – the bran, the germ, and the endosperm – protected by an inedible...
What is the top part of wheat called?
ear The spike (also called the ear or head) forms at the top of the plant. A spike usually has 35-50 grains (or kernels). Wheat grain typically wei...
What are the 3 parts of a wheat grain?
All whole grain kernels contain three parts: the bran, germ, and endosperm. Each section houses health-promoting nutrients. The bran is the fiber-r...
What is the smallest part of a wheat kernel?
Bran is found in whole wheat flour and is high in fiber. The smallest part of a wheat kernel, at about 2.5 percent of the kernel weight, is the germ , which is the high-fat sprouting part of a seed. Germ is also included in whole wheat flour, but both bran and germ are separated from the endosperm during the milling process to make white flour.
What is the primary root system of wheat?
The primary root system begins when the seed germinates and provides nutrients for the wheat seedlings. As the plant matures, the secondary permanent root system replaces the primary root system and provides stability. Related Articles. What Are the Six Stages of the Life Cycle of a Wheat...
How does wheat grow?
Before a wheat plant makes a kernel, it must establish roots and grow leaves to support the production of a dry fruit. The first step in the growth of a wheat plant is germination, which is the point when the radicle and seminal roots begin to grow from the seed, which is the wheat kernel. Next emerges the coleoptile, which is a sheath that grows from the wheat kernel to protect the first leaf as it extends through the soil.
What are the parts of a wheat kernel?
There are three main parts in a wheat kernel: endosperm, bran and germ.
What is straw used for?
Straw is used as mulch (frequently for strawberries), animal bedding and feed, and decoration ( in straw bales at Halloween, for instance). Leaves. The leaves of the wheat grass plant are long and thin. They protect the head of the plant and gather light for photosynthesis. The main protector is called the flag leaf.
When was wheat first grown?
Considered a cereal grain, wheat was first grown in the United States in 1777, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. The hard, dry fruits of a wheat plant are called wheat kernels, and wheat is harvested when the kernels are mature. Wheat kernels are kept dry in grain storage facilities like silos or bins until they are needed. Wheat is grown to feed humans and for farm animals like cows and chickens.
Where did wheat originate?
A cereal crop that originated in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, the wheat plant has many parts. According to the National Association of Wheat Growers, wheat is grown in 42 states in the United Sates.
What is the last leaf produced by wheat?
flowering. The last leaf produced by a wheat plant is known as the flag leaf. It is denser and has a higher photosynthetic rate than other leaves, to supply carbohydrate to the developing ear.
Where was wheat found?
With the exception of Iraq ed-Dubb, the earliest carbon-14 dated remains of domesticated emmer wheat were found in the earliest levels of Tell Aswad, in the Damascus basin, near Mount Hermon in Syria. These remains were dated by Willem van Zeist and his assistant Johanna Bakker-Heeres to 8800 BCE.
How much protein is in 100 grams of wheat?
In 100 grams, wheat provides 1,370 kilojoules (327 kilocalories) of food energy and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of multiple essential nutrients, such as protein, dietary fiber, manganese, phosphorus and niacin (table). Several B vitamins and other dietary minerals are in significant content. Wheat is 13% water, 71% carbohydrates, and 1.5% fat. Its 13% protein content is mostly gluten (75-80% of the protein in wheat).
Why is wheat hybrid so labor intensive?
Because wheat self-pollinates, creating hybrid varieties is extremely labor-intensive; the high cost of hybrid wheat seed relative to its moderate benefits have kept farmers from adopting them widely despite nearly 90 years of effort.
How many tillers does wheat have?
Winter wheat generally produces up to 15 leaves per shoot and spring wheat up to 9 and winter crops may have up to 35 tillers (shoots) per plant (depending on cultivar). Wheat roots are among the deepest of arable crops, extending as far down as 2m.
Why are wheat genes important?
The presence of certain versions of wheat genes has been important for crop yields. Genes for the 'dwarfing' trait, first used by Japanese wheat breeders to produce short-stalked wheat, have had a huge effect on wheat yields worldwide, and were major factors in the success of the Green Revolution in Mexico and Asia, an initiative led by Norman Borlaug. Dwarfing genes enable the carbon that is fixed in the plant during photosynthesis to be diverted towards seed production, and they also help prevent the problem of lodging. 'Lodging' occurs when an ear stalk falls over in the wind and rots on the ground, and heavy nitrogenous fertilization of wheat makes the grass grow taller and become more susceptible to this problem. By 1997, 81% of the developing world's wheat area was planted to semi-dwarf wheats, giving both increased yields and better response to nitrogenous fertilizer.
How much wheat is produced in the world?
World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. In 2017, world production of wheat was 772 million tonnes, with a forecast of 2019 production at 766 million tonnes, making it the second most-produced cereal after maize.

Overview
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus Triticum; the most widely grown is common wheat (T. aestivum). The archaeological record suggests that wheat was first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent around 9600 BCE. Botanically, the wheat kernel is a type of fruit called a caryo…
Origin and history
Cultivation and repeated harvesting and sowing of the grains of wild grasses led to the creation of domestic strains, as mutant forms ('sports') of wheat were preferentially chosen by farmers. In domesticated wheat, grains are larger, and the seeds (inside the spikelets) remain attached to the ear by a toughened rachis during harvesting. In wild strains, a more fragile rachis allows the ear t…
Physiology
Leaves emerge from the shoot apical meristem in a telescoping fashion until the transition to reproduction i.e. flowering. The last leaf produced by a wheat plant is known as the flag leaf. It is denser and has a higher photosynthetic rate than other leaves, to supply carbohydrate to the developing ear. In temperate countries the flag leaf, along with the second and third highest leaf on the plant, supply the majority of carbohydrate in the grain and their condition is paramount to …
Genetics and breeding
In traditional agricultural systems wheat populations often consist of landraces, informal farmer-maintained populations that often maintain high levels of morphological diversity. Although landraces of wheat are no longer grown in Europe and North America, they continue to be important elsewhere. The origins of formal wheat breeding lie in the nineteenth century, when single line v…
Varieties
There are around 20 wheat varieties of 7 species grown throughout the world. In Canada different varieties are blended prior to sale. "Identity preserved" wheat that has been stored and transported separately (at extra cost) usually fetches a higher price.
Apart from mutant versions of genes selected in antiquity during domestication…
Naming
There are many botanical classification systems used for wheat species, discussed in a separate article on wheat taxonomy. The name of a wheat species from one information source may not be the name of a wheat species in another.
Within a species, wheat cultivars are further classified by wheat breeders and f…
As a food
Raw wheat can be ground into flour or, using hard durum wheat only, can be ground into semolina; germinated and dried creating malt; crushed or cut into cracked wheat; parboiled (or steamed), dried, crushed and de-branned into bulgur also known as groats. If the raw wheat is broken into parts at the mill, as is usually done, the outer husk or bran can be used in several ways.
Commercial use
Harvested wheat grain that enters trade is classified according to grain properties for the purposes of the commodity- and international trade markets. Wheat buyers use these to decide which wheat to buy, as each class has special uses, and producers use them to decide which classes of wheat will be most profitable to cultivate.