84. Aegilops L. (goat grass)
(van Slageren, 1994)
Twenty‑two species, native of Europe, Asia, Africa;
introduced widely in North America.
Aegilops is included as part of Triticum by some authors (Gould, 1975;
Gould and Shaw, 1983), and A. speltoides Tausch hybridized in the past
with diploid members of that genus to produce the tetraploid wheats. However,
it is morphologically and phylogenetically distinct (van Slageren, 1994) and is
treated as a separate genus by most botanists.