| 9. Ae. triuncialis from Syria (U.A.R.). Turkey and Greece
Ae. triuncialis L. (2n=28, genome symbol CuCuCC) was collected in the habitats listed in Table 13. As pointed out by Eig (1929), this species occurred very widely; namely we found it almost everywhere we travelled except Egypt (U.A.R.), Jordan, Lebanon, Crete Island (Greece) and Sicily Island (Italy). This species consists of 2 subspecies, viz. eu-triuncialis Eig and orientalis Eig. The majority of our collection were ssp. eu-triuncialis with awns, while a few specimens collected from Konya-Akseki in Turkey were found to belong to ssp. orientalis var. assyriaca with no or vestigial awns. While, in 1955 Yamashita collected ssp. orientalis abundantly in the region of Maimana-Herat in Afghanistan, and ssp. eu-triuncialis was rather scanty there. There occurred an intermediate type in addition. From these facts, it can be said that ssp. orientalis is the derivative from ssp. eu-triuncialis. It is also interesting to know the fact that in Central Turkey, where is presumed to be the centre of the distribution of Ae. triuncialis, also an awned form of Ae. caudata, viz. var. polyathera, occurs widely as stated before (under 7). Spontaneous hybrid specimens of probably Ae. triuncialis x Ae. biuncialis (or a certain wheat species) were found in the habitats of 3 km N of Amasya, 12 km N of Ankara and 14 km W of Ayas in Turkey. 10. Aegilops cylindrica from Turkey Aegilops cylindrica Host (2n=28, genome symbol CCDD) was collected from various habitats in Central Turkey and from the suburbs of Dogubayazit near the Iranian border (Table 14). We visited the town under a sudden hail on June 27. Mt. Ararat showed her peak morosely from the clouds now and then. I longed for the days past when I travelled to Azerbaijan, Iran, in 1955 on the occasion of our last expedition (KUSE 1955), when I caught people speak Persian in a restaurant where we had a short recess. This species was collected by Kihara in 1955 (KUSE) in the suburbs of Teheran, Iran, where will be the eastern limit of its distribution. According to Eig (1929), Ae. cylindrica involves 2 varieties, viz. typica Host and pauciaristata Eig, being the former an awned form and the latter an awnless or few awned form. These two forms were found in a mixed population or in neighboring separate populations, and the intermediate (hybrid) types were found occasionally. Ae. cylindrica is an allotetraploid arisen from the hybrid Ae. caudata (CC) x Ae. squarrusa (DD) (Kihara 1941, 1944, Sears 1946). Accordingly the place where this species arose, can be said to be Eastern Turkey, where, after Dr. O. Tosun, Professor of Ankara University, Ae. squarrosa occurs. This species was actually collected from Azerbaijan, Iran by KUSE 1955, though the eastern limit of distribution of Ae. caudata remains still unknown. (Reference : A map showing the habitats of Triticum and Aegilops in WIS No. 11.) |
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