Aegilops

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Genus of grasses

title: "Aegilops" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aegilops", "poaceae-genera"] description: "Genus of grasses" topic_path: "general/aegilops" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegilops" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of grasses ::

|name = Goatgrasses |image = Aegilops_geniculata_Enfoque_2010-5-08_DehesaBoyaldePuertollano.jpg |image_caption = Aegilops geniculata |display_parents = 3 |taxon = Aegilops |authority = L. |type_species = Aegilops triuncialis |type_species_authority = L. |synonyms_ref = |synonyms =

  • Triticum sect. Aegilops (L.) Godr. & Gren.
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops (L.) C. Yen & J.L. Yang
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops (L.) Schmalh.
  • Amblyopyrum Eig
  • Aegilemma Á.Löve
  • Aegilonearum Á.Löve
  • Aegilopodes Á.Löve
  • Chennapyrum Á.Löve
  • Comopyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Cylindropyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Gastropyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Kiharapyrum Á.Löve
  • Orrhopygium Á.Löve
  • Patropyrum Á.Löve
  • Perlaria Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Sitopsis (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve

Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family, Poaceae. They are known generally as goatgrasses. Some species are known as invasive weeds in parts of North America.

Description

These are annual plants, sometimes from rhizomes. 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 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.

Origin of wheat

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Polyploid_wheat_origins.svg" caption="''Aegilops'' species are ancestors of [[emmer]] and [[bread wheat]]."] ::

Genus Aegilops has played an important role in the taxonomy of wheat. The familiar common wheat (Triticum aestivum) arose when cultivated emmer wheat hybridized with Aegilops tauschii about 8,000 years ago. Aegilops and Triticum are genetically similar, as evidenced by their ability to hybridize, and by the presence of Aegilops in the evolutionary heritage of many Triticum taxa.

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 such as the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and pathogenic fungi. Other Aegilops are weeds of rangeland and wildland habitat.

Prehistoric wild food source

During the Mesolithic era, nomadic peoples found goatgrasses (Aegilops) growing wild, along with wild wheats and barleys, and harvested them using bone sickles 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 is botanical Latin and comes from the Ancient Greek (grc), which is of uncertain origin. If the word is from (grc, “goat”) + (grc, "eye; looking like"), it could mean "goatlike herb", "a herb liked by goats", or perhaps "a grass similar to that liked by goats".

The word ** is claimed to be the longest word in the English language to have all of its letters in alphabetical order, and with no letters repeated.

Species

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Aegilops_tauschii_04363.jpg" caption="''[[Aegilops tauschii]]''"] ::

; Accepted species

; Formerly included species Species once regarded as members of Aegilops but now considered better suited to other genera: Ctenium, Dactyloctenium, Elymus, Eremochloa, Ophiuros, Parapholis, Rottboellia, and Triticum

References

References

  1. lectotype designated by Hammer, Feddes Repert. 91: 225-228 (1980)
  2. [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40033200 Tropicos, ''Aegilops'' L.]
  3. (August 2024). "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". kew.org}}{{Dead link.
  4. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359071#page/492/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1050-1051] in Latin
  5. "Genere Aegilops - Flora Italiana". altervista.org.
  6. [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=100654 Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 444 山羊草属 shan yang cao shu ''Aegilops'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1050. 1753. ]
  7. [https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=182534 ''Aegilops''.] Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  8. Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. [http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/aegilops.htm ''Aegilops''.] {{webarchive. link. (October 10, 2008 The Grass Genera of the World. Version: 18 December 2012.)
  9. {{BONAP. ref
  10. [http://www.k-state.edu/wgrc/Taxonomy/taxaeg.html ''Aegilops'' classification systems.] {{Webarchive. link. (2013-10-22 Wheat Genetic and Genomics Resource Center. Kansas State University.)
  11. [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=10107 ''Aegilops''.] The Jepson eFlora 2013.
  12. [http://herbarium.usu.edu/triticeae/Genera/Aegilops.htm ''Aegilops''.] {{webarchive. link. (October 22, 2013 Triticeae Genus Fact Sheets. Intermountain Herbarium. Utah State University.)
  13. [http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00007.htm ''Aegilops''.] GrassBase. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Version 16 November 2012.
  14. (2007-02-12). "Molecular phylogeny of the genus Triticum L". [[Plant Systematics and Evolution]].
  15. Jia, J., et al. (2013). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7443/full/nature12028.html ''Aegilops tauschii'' draft genome sequence reveals a gene repertoire for wheat adaptation.] ''Nature'' 496, 91–95.
  16. Petersen, G., et al. (2006). [http://www.botany.wisc.edu/courses/botany_940/06CropEvol/papers/Petersen%2606.pdf 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.
  17. ''Aegilops'' is sometimes treated within ''Triticum''. They are maintained as separate genera by most authorities because of their [[ecology
  18. [https://archive.today/20131021091508/http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/weedinfo/aegilops.htm ''Aegilops''.] Encycloweedia Data Sheets. California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
  19. Thomson, Peter (2010). ''Seeds, sex, and civilization: How the hidden life of plants has shaped our world.'' Thames and Hudson. 12,13.
  20. "Real Facts {{!}} Snapple".
  21. [http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-2000/longest-english-word-with-letters-arranged-in-alphabetical-order/ Longest English word with letters arranged in alphabetical order.] Guinness World Records.
  22. [http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Poaceae/Aegilops/ ''Aegilops''.] The Plant List.
  23. "RBG Kew: GrassBase - Aegilops biuncialis Description". kew.org.
  24. "Taxonomy - GRIN-Global Web v 1.9.8.2".

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aegilopspoaceae-genera