Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Account for Bread Wheat - Triticum aestivum   L.
Members of Poaceae:
Only member of Triticum in NC.
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Section 5 » Order Cyperales » Family Poaceae
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AuthorL.
DistributionMore-or-less throughout the state. Gaps will probably be filled in over time. However, website editors cannot vouch that every record is adventive vs. planted.

Native of Eurasia; in N.A. widespread as a food crop and cover crop.
AbundanceProbably frequent in the Piedmont, but uncommon elsewhere.
HabitatRoadsides, fields, weed in crop fields, along walkways, horse trails, waste ground, etc. Forms of it are also planted as a winter cover crop and to stabilize temporarily disturbed sites.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting April-August, at least.
IdentificationWheat is one of our staple cereal and bread grasses. Stems grow 2-4 (or more) feet high, AND THE leaves are few and well-spaced. The inflorescence is a terminal, compact spike 2.5-7 inches long. Depending on the cultivar, the spikelets may have long erect awns or none. Each spikelet has 3-9 florets. It resembles Cultivated Rye (Secale cereale) but differs in having a single spikelet per node (vs. 2+).
Taxonomic Comments
Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
State Status
US Status
USACE-agcp
USACE-emp
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B.A. SorriePlanted crop in Piedmont, Randolph County. RandolphPhoto_non_natural