Food crop of wheat

Wheat was established food crop at the dawn of history. It probably originated from grasses native to the Middle East, but cultivation of bread wheat was common in Europe by the time of the Greek and Roman Empires, and wheat was brought to America by the earliest explorers. It is grown in temperate zones around the world and on some part of every continent except Antarctica.

The principle species of wheat are Triticum vulgae or bread wheat: T.durum, which has extra hard kennels used primarily for macaroni and related pasta products; and T.compactum or club wheat, which has very soft kernels.

These are numerous varieties and cultivars within each species. Wheat is also classified in the United Sates according to whether is hard or soft, white or red, and planted in winter or spring. It is also graded according to such criteria as test weight.

It is also graded according to such criteria as test weight per bushel and content of damaged kernels, foreign materials, and wheat of other classes.
Food crop of wheat

Wild rice (Zizania spp.)

Wild rice, technically not a rice and since the era of paddy production mostly not wild, is the only cereal native to North America with well documented food uses. Wild rice has been a successfully crop in California because production economics have been favorable; the crop adapts easily to basins that have been used for production in the Sacramento Valley.

Wild rice is a grass belonging to the family Gramineae, the genus Zizania, and the species aquatica (or palustris). One can easily distinguish Zizania aquatica from Oryza sativa or common white rice, the Asian staple.

There are four species of wild rice:
Northern wild rice (Zizania palustris)
Wild rice (Zizania aquatica)
Texas wild rice (Zizania texana)
Manchurian wild rice (Zizania latifolia)

This wild rice has come into modern American diet as a delicious, though expensive, substitute for true rice. Or as an additive to give true rice a special flavor and texture.

Wild rice is primarily wind pollinated, a process that ensures genetic diversity through outcrossing, In addition, the plant has some capacity for self pollination.

It is an annual plant that grows form seed. Seed germination is evident when the coleoptiles that covers the leaves breaks through outer layer of the seed.

Zizania latifolia

The stem diameter of the wild rice plant varies from ¼ to ½ inch. Internodes are hollow and divided by thin, porous partitions that allow the diffusion of gasses up and down the stem. Up to 50 additional secondary (tillers) can originate from the basal nodes.
Wild rice (Zizania spp.)