| b. Morphological characters Ssp. eu-triuncialis EIG. Both sterile and outer glumes of apical spikelet have 2 - 3 awns, and also sterile glumes of all lateral spikelets are awned. Articulation of the ear is umbrella type with no exception. Ssp. orientalis EIG. In apical spikelet sterile glume has 1 - 3 awns, while outer glume has none. Disarticulation of the ear is umbrella type or sometimes barrel type. Var. assyriaca EIG has one long and slender awn in lateral spikelet. It was observed that vars. assyriaca and persica occur side by side in common populations in the Maimana region. There would be a possibility of hybridization between the two varieties. Probably for this reason, there exist wide and continuous variations between the two varieties and it has been difficult to give a clear cut classification between vars. assyriaca and persica based on the morphological differences. According to MATSUMURA and KONDO (1942) the awned type is incompletely dominant over the non-awned in Ae. triuncialis. [i] Height of culm : the plants were classified under 4 classes by their height, namely less than 35, 35-45, 45-55 and 55-65 cm. Many tall plants were found in the Tabriz region, Iran and in the Maimana regions, Afghanistan. [ii] Waxiness : Among 47 localities, 30 were the Pure non-waxy populations arid 4 were the pure waxy populations and the rest were the mixed ones. In many habitats the ratio of non-waxy vs. waxy was 4.4:1. In the Maimana region waxy plants occured in a majority. Since non-waxy is dominant over waxy, non-waxy plants should be either homozygous or heterozygous. Actually all waxy plants gave all waxy progenies, while 3 non-waxy plants segregated waxy progenies, indicating the hybridization occurred between waxy and non-waxy in nature. [iii] Glume pubescence : In almost all Aegilops species, both pubescent and glabrous types are found, pubescent being dominant over glabrours. Among 47 habitats all the strains from 25 habitats were pubescent and all the strains from 14 habitats were glabrous, while both pubescent and glabrous strains were collected from 8 habitats. The glabrous type is probably a mutation from the pubescent type. However, it is note-worthy that the glabrous plants occurred in an overwhelming majority in the Pul-i-Khumri region, Afghanistan. |
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