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Triticum aestivum spelta

Common name:	Spelt Wheat	Family:	Gramineae
Author:	(L.)Thell.	Botanical references:	50
Synonyms:	Triticum spelta (L.)
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Original habitat is obscure.
Habitat:	Developed through cultivation, it is not known in a truly wild location.
Edibility Rating (1-5):	4	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	T. aestivum subsp. spelta[G] T. aestivum var. spelta[B,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Spelt [B,E,P],
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
	Europe

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 1m. 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 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, requires well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

Seed.

Seed - cooked[57, 61, 105]. It is usually ground into a flour and used as a cereal for making bread, biscuits etc. Pasta made from this grain has a delicious nutty flavour[183]. The seed retains its glumes when threshed[46].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Biomass Mulch Paper Starch Thatching.

The straw has many uses, as a biomass for fuel etc, for thatching, as a mulch in the garden etc[141].
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]. It can also be converted to alcohol for use as a fuel.

Cultivation details

An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most well-drained soils in a sunny position. Succeeds in poor soils[171].
Spelt probably arose through cultivation around 8,000 years ago following a cross between T. dicoccum and Aegilops squarrosa. This cross contributed an extra protein gene to the seed, making a stronger flour that is more suitable for making bread. It is sometimes cultivated for its edible seed, especially in the hilly country of C. and N.W. Europe[50, 57, 183]. There are some named varieties[183]. It is becoming increasingly popular as a health-food crop, although it contains gluten it is said to be more nutritious than bread wheat and suitable for many people who are intolerant of the gluten in bread wheat
A hexaploid species[142].

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

'Champ': An awnless brown chaffed cultivar that outyields common spelt by an average of 23.2%[183]. It also contains 1 - 1.5% higher protein[183]. Slightly taller than the species, it has considerably improved straw strength and very good resistance to leaf rust[183]. It is only moderately resistant to powdery mildew[183].

Suppliers

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

Web References

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

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

References for Triticum spelta (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.
[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.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

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.

[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.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. 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.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[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.

[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.

[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.

[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.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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