Menu list goes here

Herbal Database Search Results

Back to: Pathways Main Search Page For Metaphysical uses visit The Witchs Haven

Triticum aestivum

Common name:	Bread Wheat	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17
Synonyms:	Triticum vulgare (Vill.), Triticum sativum (Lam.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Of uncertain origin, perhaps the Middle East or Armenia.
Habitat:	Not known in the wild.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	T. aestivum subsp. aestivocompactum[G] T. aestivum subsp. aestivum[G] T. aestivum var. graecum[G] T. aestivum var. muticum[G] T. hybernum[B,G,H,P] T. macha[B,P] T. muticum[G] T. sphaerococcum[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bread Wheat [L,B], Bugday [E], Cheng Ping [E], Common Wheat [H,P], Fou Mai [E], Frumint [E], Hsiao Mai [E], Hui Mien [E], Ka Shih Tso [E], Lai [E], Mai Ch'Ao [E], Mai Fu [E], Mai Fu Tzu [E], Man Tou [E], Mien [E], Mien Chin [E], Mien Fen [E], Mo Mo [E], Pai Mien [E], Tarwe [D], Trigo [E], Wheat [H,E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aestivum = of summer
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Cyperales. Renamed to Poaceae -- Grass family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Belgium Britain Britain(Wales) Canada China India Japan Peru Spain Turkey Us
Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds	From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia , DEFRA Injurious Weeds
	Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive.

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1.5m. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Wind. We rate it 4/5 for edibility and 2/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Cultivar 'Perennial': Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - cooked. The seed can be cooked as a whole grain but it is more usually ground into a powder and used as a flour for making bread, fermented foods, pasta, cakes, biscuits etc[1, 13, 34, 57, 183]. High in gluten, it is the most common flour used for making bread. The seed can also be sprouted and then added to salads or juiced to make a healthy drink[183]. A nutritional analysis is available[218].

Composition

Seed (Fresh weight): In grammes per 100g weight of food:
Water: 13 Calories: 340 Protein: 11.7 Fat: 2.2 Carbohydrate: 72 Fibre: 2 Ash: 1.7
In milligrammes per 100g weight of food:
Calcium: 40 Phosphorus: 377 Iron: 3.5 Potassium: 400 Thiamine: 0.55 Riboflavin: 0.11 Niacin: 4.8
Source: [218]
Notes : The figures given here are the median of a range given in the report.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antibilious Antihydrotic Antipyretic Antivinous Sedative Skin Stomachic.

The young stems are used in the treatment of biliousness and intoxication[218]. The ash is used to remove skin blemishes[218].
The fruit is antipyretic and sedative[218].
The light grain is antihydrotic[176]. It is used in the treatment of night sweats and spontaneous sweating[176]. The seed is said to contain sex hormones and has been used in China to promote female fertility[218].
The seed sprouts are antibilious, antivinous and constructive[218]. They are used in the treatment of malaise, sore throat, thirst, abdominal coldness and spasmic pain, constipation and cough[176].
The plant has anticancer properties[218].

Other Uses

Biomass Mulch Paper Size Starch Thatching.

The straw has many uses, as a biomass for fuel etc, for thatching, as a mulch in the garden etc[13, 100, 141, 171].
A fibre obtained from the stems is used for making paper[189]. The stems are harvested in late summer after the seed has been harvested, they are cut into usable pieces and soaked in clear water for 24 hours. They are then cooked for 2 hours in lye or soda ash and then beaten in a ball mill for 1½ hours in a ball mill. The fibres make a green-tan paper[189].
The starch from the seed is used for laundering, sizing textiles etc[46, 61].

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it prefers a sunny position in a rich well-drained soil.
Wheat is widely cultivated in most parts of the world, but less so in Asia, for its edible seed[13]. There are many named varieties[183]. This is a hexaploid species.
Grows well with maize and with camomile in small quantities[18]. Dislikes dogwood, cherry, tulips, pine and poppies[18].

Propagation

Seed - sow early spring or autumn in situ and only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within a few days[K].

Cultivars

'Perennial' 'Perennial Wheat': A novelty plant with good productivity and grain flavour[183]. Sown in the autumn, the plant is genetically programmed to lie dormant under a winter snow blanket until the spring[183]. Some of the plants will live on to produce grain in successive years[183].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

PFAF Web Pages

This plant is mentioned in the following web pages

Staple seed crops from perennials.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[V] Images from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[PHARM] Phytochemical Data (common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HEC] Use, Folk Medicine, etc. from Handbook of Energy Crops by James Duke
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Triticum aestivum subsp. aestivum (a possible synonym).

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.

References for Triticum sativum (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.

References for Triticum vulgare (a possible synonym).

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database

References for triticum aestivum (a possible synonym).

[HP] PhotoFrom Henriette's plant pictures

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[34] Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975
Good drawings of some of the more common food plants from around the world. Not much information though.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.

[141] Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading 1986 ISBN 0704909820
Some suggested alternative commercial crops for Britain. Readable. Produced by a University study group.

[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.

[176] Yeung. Him-Che. Handbook of Chinese Herbs and Formulas. Institute of Chinese Medicine, Los Angeles 1985
A very good Chinese herbal.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[189] Bell. L. A. Plant Fibres for Papermaking. Liliaceae Press 1988
A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

Readers Comments

Main Search Page Help Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Triticum+aestivum
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Triticum+aestivum

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
(You can copy, distribute, display this works but: Attribution is required, its for Non-Commercial purposes, and it's Share Alike (GNUish/copyleft) i.e. has an identical license.)
We also ask that you let us know (michael@thewitchshaven.com) if you link to, redistribute, make a derived work or do anything groovy with this information.

Pathways Home :: View Cart :: Shipping & Returns :: Contact Us :: Privacy Policy :: Philosophy :: The Witchs Haven

We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.