Triticum sovieticum
Zhebrak.
What to Eat
Edible parts: Seeds, Cereal
The seed is cooked and most commonly ground into flour for use as a cereal in making bread, biscuits, and similar products.
How to Identify
An annual wheat blooming June to July with seeds maturing August to September. Wind-pollinated hermaphrodite suited to sandy, loamy, and clay soils with good drainage and mildly acid to mildly alkaline pH. Requires full sun and moist soil conditions. Not frost tender.
How to Grow
Succeeds in most well-drained soils in a sunny position.
Propagation: Sow seed in early spring or autumn directly in situ, barely covering it. Germination should occur within a few days.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Other Uses
The straw serves many purposes, including as a biomass fuel, thatching material, and garden mulch. Fibre extracted from the stems can be used to make paper: stems are harvested in late summer after seed collection, cut into usable pieces, soaked in clear water for 24 hours, cooked for 2 hours in lye or soda ash, then beaten in a ball mill for 1½ hours, producing a green-tan paper. Starch from the seed is used for laundering and sizing textiles, and can also be converted to alcohol for use as a fuel.
Wikipedia
An annual wheat blooming June to July with seeds maturing August to September. Wind-pollinated hermaphrodite suited to sandy, loamy, and clay soils with good drainage and mildly acid to mildly alkaline pH. Requires full sun and moist soil conditions. Not frost tender.
References (1)
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
