Two variants of wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides) native to Israel: morphology and distribution

A detailed morphological comparison between the narrow-spiked and the wide-spiked variants of Triticum dicoccoides growing in Israel revealed significant differences that became evident in almost all organs, both vegetative and reproductive, in juvenile and adult stages, on macro- and micro-morphological levels. Phenologically the two variants are also distinct, the narrow-spiked one usually heading later. While the narrow-spiked form is widely distributed in Israel, covering the entire range of T. dicoccoides in this country, the wide-spiked form is restricted to the vicinity of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and to Mt. Gilboa. Spike color was not found to be a stable character in either variant of T. dicoccoides and therefore cannot be used as a criterion for infraspecific taxonomy. A tendency to increase grain number in a spikelet to three was observed in both variants, but it was expressed more strongly in the wide-spiked one. Key words: Triticum dicoccoides, wild emmer, intraspecific variation.