Varieties of Bread Wheat
On this page you can see a selection of six wheat varieties we grew in our protective cereals cage. Each one shows a different variation in plant height, ear type, presence or absence of awns and colour of the mature grain.
In these images you can see the wheat at different stages: growing, maturing, and ripened.
The varieties we grew were:
- "Solstice". A short, widely grown British variety producing grain that is suitable for a bread-making flour.
- "Soissons". A short early maturing French awned variety from the 1970's, but prone to late frosts.
- An old Armenian variety that can grow up to five feet high.
- "Maris Widgeon". A moderately-tall heritage variety that was favoured for thatching and making corn 'dollies'.
- "Redfast". A tall British heritage variety with the ears and mature grain having a darker 'tanned' appearance, known as 'red'.
- "Bearded Red". A tall British heritage, similar to "Redfast" in colour but with awns.
Key to the table above:
- Plant height = height of plant at maturity, either short or tall.
- Ear type = compact ears are the usual type; 'lax' have the flower heads spaced along the ear.
- Awns = presence or absence of awns on the ears, 'bearded' wheat having awns.
- Colour = colour of the mature grain; 'white' is light brown, 'red' is a darker brown.
Below you can download a document providing more information about this project and the types of wheat we grew. Click the green arrow to download it.