Aegilops speltoides

Tausch

Goatgrass

Poaceae Edible: Seeds, Cereal 5 iNaturalist observations

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Summary

Aegilops speltoides (syn. Sitopsis speltoides (Tausch) Á.Löve) is an edible goatgrass 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 plant is an important natural source of disease resistance in wheat, and it is known or likely to be susceptible to barley mild mosaic bymovirus.

Description

Aegilops speltoides is an annual grass reaching 0.6 m (2 ft) tall. Not frost tender. Flowers July to August with seeds ripening August to September. Wind-pollinated hermaphrodite. Adapts to light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with good drainage. Grows in semi-shade to full sun and tolerates both dry and moist soil across mildly acidic to mildly alkaline pH ranges.

Edible Uses

The seeds can be cooked and used as a cereal substitute for making bread and similar foods, though they are small and very fiddly to harvest and clean. Best considered an emergency food source.

Traditional Uses

The seed is eaten cooked normally as a cereal in bread.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

None known

Distribution

It grows naturally in grasslands and low hills between 100 - 1200 metres in Turkey. It grows best in sun but an tolerate light shade.

Where It Grows

Africa, Asia, Europe, Turkey, Türkiye,

Cultivation

No records of cultivation details have been seen, the plant grows well at Kew on an acid gravelly soil and also in Cornwall on a slightly acid loam. It is probably best grown in a sunny position but tolerates light shade. This species is believed to have hybridized with primitive forms of Triticum spp (Wheat) to produce some of the more modern Triticum spp. It could therefore be of value in breeding programmes.

Propagation

Sow seed in situ in March or April, covering it only just barely. Keep the soil consistently moist until germination. Alternatively, sow in a greenhouse in early March and transplant outdoors in May.