| 13. Aegilops variabilis and Ae. kotschyi Aegilops variabilis EIG and Ae. kotschyi BOISS. have the same genome constitution (CuCuSvSv); the former is different from the latter by 1-2 pairs of translocation chromosomes, but this will not be essential because such translocations have been found also within each species. After EIG (1929,) the morphological difference between the two species is based on the existence of awns in outer glumes and the hardness of ear. Namely Ae. kotschyi has flexible ears with 1-3 awns in outer glumes, while Ae. variabilis has hard ears with no awns. It was observed that Ae. variabilis and Ae. kotschyi occur side by side in common habitats in Jordan. Therefore, there is a possibility of hybridization between the two species. Prdbably this would account for wide and continuous variation in the species and also for various exceptional forms, such as variabilis-type with flexible ears, and kotschyi-type with hard ears. Accordingly, it was difficult to give a clearcut classification between the two species based on the morphological analysis. These two species occurred almost everywhere we travelled. In Egypt Ae. kotschyi dominated over Ae. variabilis, and in Jordan and Syria these species and their Varieties occurred abundantly (Table 17). In the area of Dead Sea in Jordan we found the variation from short to long spikes and from long to non- or vestigial-awns. In Lebanon, Turkey and Greece only Ae. variabilis was found and in Italy only Ae. kotschyi (Table 18). From these data, it can be said that Ae. variabilis and Ae. kotschyi originated in Palestina as an amphidiploid of the hybrids between Ae. umbellulata with Cu-genome and Ae. longissima, Ae. sharonensis or Ae. bicornis with S-genome, as have been reported by TANAKA (1955). 14. Aegilops columnaris Ae. columnaris ZHUK. (4x, genome symbol CuCuMcMc) was collected from on1y three habitats in Ankara and its suburbs, in Turkey (Table 19). This species was always found in a mixed population with Ae. triuncialis, Ae. caudata, Ae. umbellulata and Ae.cylindrica etc.. According to EIG (1929), this species occupies a very limited area in Central Turkey. This was also found in Iran by the Kyoto University Scientific Expedition in 1955 (WIS No. 6, p. 13 and KUSE Vol. 1, pp. 1-118). 15. Aegilops biuncialis Aegilops biuncialis VIS. (4x, genome symbol CuCuMbMb) was collected from Syria Turkey and Greece (Table 20). Especially in Turkey and Greece, this species occurred almost everywhere. According to EIG (1929), its distribution is from the east of the Caspian Sea to Italy. Ae. biuncialis involves three varieties, viz. typica VIS., macrochaeta EIG and archipelagica EIG. All the collected strains were var. typica or var. macrochaeta; the former bears a sparse hair glume, while the latter a dense hair glume. Var. macrochaeta has been hitherto described to have waxy spike but the collected one does not have waxy spike. These two varieties were also found in a mixed population or in the neighboring separate populations, in Turkey. 16. Aegilops ovata Ae. ovata L. (4x, genome symbol CuCuMoMo) was collected in many habitats as listed in Table 21. We found it almost everywhere, in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria. Turkey, Greece and Italy, but none in Egypt. The population size was always larger than that of any other species. Especially we met with large growth of Ae. ovata in the suburbs of Gonen, Turkey and the hillside of Agrigento in Sicily Island, Italy. (Received April 1, 1966) |
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