''Aegilops'' is a genus of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

n and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n plants in the grass family,

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

. They are known generally as goatgrasses.''Aegilops''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Some species are known as invasive

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s in parts of

.Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards
''Aegilops''.
The Grass Genera of the World. Version: 18 December 2012.

Description

These are

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

s, sometimes from

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s. The taller species reach about 80 centimeters in maximum height. The flat leaves are linear to narrowly lance-shaped, and are up to 15 centimeters long and one wide. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a spike with 2 to 12 solitary spikelets each up to 1.2 centimeters long. Some spikelets have one or three awns, and some have none.''Aegilops''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013.
Triticeae Genus Fact Sheets. Intermountain Herbarium. Utah State University.

Wheat

Genus ''Aegilops'' has played an important role in the

taxonomy of wheat During 10,000 years of cultivation, numerous forms of wheat, many of them hybrids, have developed under a combination of artificial and natural selection. This diversity has led to much confusion in the naming of wheats. This article explains how ...

. The familiar

common wheat Common wheat (''Triticum aestivum''), also known as bread wheat, is a cultivated wheat species. About 95% of wheat produced worldwide is common wheat; it is the most widely grown of all crops and the cereal with the highest monetary yield. Ta ...

(''Triticum aestivum'') arose when cultivated

emmer Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...

wheat hybridized with '' Aegilops tauschii'' about 8,000 years ago.Petersen, G., et al. (2006)
Phylogenetic relationships of ''Triticum'' and ''Aegilops'' and evidence for the origin of the A, B, and D genomes of common wheat (''Triticum aestivum'').
''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 39(1), 70–82. ''Aegilops'' and ''

Triticum 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 archaeologica ...

'' are genetically similar, as evidenced by their ability to hybridize, and by the presence of ''Aegilops'' in the evolutionary heritage of many ''Triticum'' taxa. ''Aegilops'' is sometimes treated within ''Triticum''. They are maintained as separate genera by most authorities because of their

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

characteristics, and because when united they do not form a

monophyletic group A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

(the lowest common class will need to include some other genera).

Ecology

Some ''Aegilops'' are known as weeds. '' A. cylindrica'', which is commonly known as jointed goatgrass, infests wheat fields, where it outcompetes wheat plants, reducing yields. Its seeds mix with wheat grains at harvest, lowering the quality of the crop. It can also harbor

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

such as the

Russian wheat aphid The Russian wheat aphid (''Diuraphis noxia'') is an aphid that can cause significant losses in cereal crops. The species was introduced to the United States in 1986 and is considered an invasive species there. This aphid is pale green and up to 2 ...

(''Diuraphis noxia'') and

pathogenic In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

. Other ''Aegilops'' are weeds of rangeland and wildland habitat.

Prehistoric use as a wild food source

During the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

era, nomadic peoples found goatgrasses (''Aegilops'') growing wild, along with wild wheats and barleys, and harvested them using bone

sickles Sickles may refer to: People *Carlton R. Sickles (1921–2004), American lawyer and congressman from Maryland *Daniel Sickles (1819–1914), American politician and Civil War general * Mark D. Sickles (born 1957), American politician *Nicholas Sick ...

inset with sharp flakes of flint. The harvested plants were left to dry for a few days, then the edible grains were separated out from the rest of the plant material by beating the plants with a wooden flail, or by rolling them against a hard surface. The seeds were then carefully singed in the embers of a fire to burn away the remaining non-edible plant material. Some grains were accidentally burnt, and since the charred grains do not biodegrade some have been found by modern archeologists.

Etymology

The genus name ''Aegilops'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

', which could mean "a goat", "goatlike", "a herb liked by goats", or perhaps "a grass similar to that liked by goats". The word "Aegilops" is claimed to be the longest word in the English language to have all of its letters in alphabetical order.

Species

; Accepted species * ''

Aegilops bicornis ''Aegilops bicornis'' (syn. ''Aegilops bicorne'' (misapplied), ''Triticum bicorne'' Forssk.) is a species in the family Poaceae native to Palestine (region), Palestine and the Levant. Elsewhere this plant is commonly considered a weed. Referen ...

'' - Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Jordan, Israel Kuwait * '' Aegilops biuncialis'' - Mediterranean Basin, Rumenia, Ukrain, Caucasus * '' Aegilops caudata'' - Balkans, Middle East * '' Aegilops columnaris'' - Middle East * '' Aegilops comosa'' - Greece, Turkey * '' Aegilops crassa'' – Persian goatgrass - Middle East to Central Asia * ''

Aegilops cylindrica ''Aegilops cylindrica'', also known as jointed goatgrass. is an annual grass seed that is part of the tribe Triticeae, along with wheat and some other cereals. It is not native to North America, however it has become a serious issue as a weed si ...

'' – jointed goatgrass - from Czech Republic to Pakistan * ''

Aegilops geniculata ''Aegilops geniculata'' is a species of grass known by the common name ovate goatgrass. It is native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, including Palestine and the Levant. Elsewhere it is known as a noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful we ...

'' - from Portugal + Canary Islands to Iran * '' Aegilops × insulae-cypri'' - Cyprus * '' Aegilops juvenalis'' - from Turkey to Kazakhstan * '' Aegilops kotschyi'' – ovate goatgrass - from Tunisia to Uzbekistan * '' Aegilops longissima'' - Middle East, Egypt * '' Aegilops lorentii'' - from Spain + Cape Verde to Iran * '' Aegilops mutica'' - Turkey, Transcaucasus * '' Aegilops neglecta'' – three-awned goatgrass - from Portugal + Canary Islands to Kazakhstan * '' Aegilops peregrina'' - from Morocco to Iran * '' Aegilops searsii'' - Syria, Jordan * ''

Aegilops sharonensis ''Aegilops'' is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family, Poaceae. They are known generally as goatgrasses.

'' - Israel * ''

Aegilops speltoides ''Aegilops speltoides'' ( syn. ''Sitopsis speltoides'' ( Tausch) Á.Löve) is an edible plant in the family Poaceae native to Southeastern Europe and Western Asia, which is often used for animal feed, and it has grown in cultivated beds. This p ...

'' - from Greece to Iran * '' Aegilops tauschii'' - from Crimea to

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

* ''

Aegilops triuncialis ''Aegilops triuncialis'', or barbed goatgrass, is a grass species of the family Poaceae. It is a winter annual native to many areas in Eastern and Mediterranean Europe and Western Asia. It is considered an introduced, invasive species in ...

'' – barbed goatgrass - from Portugal + Morocco to Kazakhstan * '' Aegilops umbellulata'' - from Crimea to Iran * '' Aegilops uniaristata'' - Italy, Balkans, Turkey, Caucasus * '' Aegilops vavilovii'' - from Caucasus to Saudi Arabia * '' Aegilops ventricosa'' - from Morocco + Balearic Islands to Caucasus ; Formerly included species Species once regarded as members of ''Aegilops'' but now considered better suited to other genera: ''

Ctenium ''Ctenium'' is a genus of African and American plants in the grass family. ; Species ; formerly included see ''Dactyloctenium Enteropogon Tetrapogon'' * ''Ctenium digitatum - Enteropogon dolichostachyus'' * ''Ctenium indicum - Tetrapogon ...

'', ''

Dactyloctenium ''Dactyloctenium'' is a genus of Asian, African, and Australian plants in the grass family. There are about 13 species in the genus in the world, in which 3 are known to occur in India. A common name for the plants is crowfoot grasses. ;Specie ...

'', '' Elymus'', ''

Eremochloa ''Eremochloa'' is a genus of Asian and Australian plants in the grass family. ; SpeciesPohl, R. W. 1994. 171. ''Eremochloa'' Buse. 6: 397. In G. Davidse, M. Sousa Sánchez & A.O. Chater (eds.) Flora Mesoamericana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma ...

'', ''

Ophiuros ''Ophiuros'' is a genus of Asia, Australian, and East African plants in the grass family. ; species * '' Ophiuros bombaiensis'' Bor - Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra * '' Ophiuros exaltatus'' (L.) Kuntze - Indian Subcontinent, southern China, Sout ...

'', ''

Parapholis ''Parapholis'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the Poaceae, grass family. Species *''Parapholis filiformis'' (Roth) C.E.Hubb. - from Madeira to Turkey *''Parapholis gracilis'' Bor - Caucasus, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and Israel. * ...

'', ''

Rottboellia ''Rottboellia'' (commonly called itch grass) is a genus of African, Asian, and Australian plants in the grass family. The genus was named in honour of Danish botanist Christen Friis Rottbøll (1727-1797). ; Species * ''Rottboellia cochinchin ...

'', and ''

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1764888 Poaceae genera

Description

Wheat

Ecology

Prehistoric use as a wild food source

Etymology

Species

See also

References

External links