Durum-Iraq (PI 481581) is a landrace durum wheat from Iraq. It is a spring type and has long black awns and pale yellow seed color. It grows well in the Sacramento Valley and offers the possibility of a supply for whole wheat pasta makers as well as bakers who know how to make pleasing whole durum wheat breads.

Sonora, a soft white landrace wheat, has a history here in the Southwestern United States, because it is a variety grown early by the agricultural Native Americans in Mexico. They used it to make their whole wheat tortillas, and apparently liked the way it could be ground to a whole wheat flour on their metate. Sonora wheat might be the very first wheat successfully introduced onto the American continent soon after Columbus’s famous journey of discovery in 1492. It was grown in the Southwest continuously until about 1960.

India Jammu, a landrace soft white wheat variety, was selected to be an alternative to Sonora wheat, both from the agricultural and from the end use viewpoint. The yield is often lower than that of Sonora wheat. However, when grown in the San Joaquin Valley after planting early in the year and applying a small amount of irrigation in this arid region, India-Jammu produced well. It seems that India-Jammu needs a relatively warm growing season to yield well.

Ethiopian Blue Tinge is an Abyssinian emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum). It is a cultivar from Ethiopia selected by Dan Jason (Salt Spring Seeds, BC, Canada). It threshes easily when combine harvested (most emmer wheats do not thresh out of their husks during combine harvesting). It is a very long awned spring type and has an intriguing dark purple brown seed color. It has a tea like aroma and is fairly prolific. The bran color and flavor are due to the antioxidant polyphenolic compounds in the bran. In the whole wheat form, it probably ranks among the highest in healthful antioxidant capacity. Dough from the whole wheat flour darkens to the color of chocolate and correspondingly flavors the baked goods made from it. Ethiopian Blue Tinge is particularly successful as a dinner grain, single rise bread and as whole wheat pasta. The grain is distinctly hard, like the related durum wheat types; the protein level generally is higher than for common hexaploid wheat grown under similar circumstances. It is somewhat short in stature (usually is at least 2-3 feet tall). Its short stature may make it vulnerable to drought, so Ethiopian Blue Tinge is recommended for slower draining soils or wetter regions in California, and for supplying those who enjoy dark richly flavored whole wheat breads. At the time of evaluation by the UC Regional Testing program, it averaged about 40 inches in plant height with greater susceptibility to lodging than most conventional cultivars, and was moderately susceptible to stripe rust. It was evaluated as Entry 1671 in the UC Regional Common Wheat Testing program in 2010 for late fall planting at rainfed sites in the Central Valley and surrounding areas.

Chiddam Blanc de Mars, a soft white landrace wheat variety from Ville de Paris in France was chosen originally because the French have such a wonderful reputation for good bread - thinking of Poilane’s whole wheat country loaf. It is often more prolific than Sonora wheat.

Edison is a hard white spring wheat developed by retired English teacher and backyard breeder Merrill Lewis of Bellingham, Washington. Merrill gave his seed to Dr. Steve Jones at WSU Bread Lab for his team to include in their wheat trials. T

Patwin is a hard white spring wheat. It was developed by the University of California, Davis and released in 2006. It was selected from the cross Madsen/2*Express. Its experimental designations were UCD 03010/24 and UC 1419. It has short stature (average plant height is 38 in, similar to Blanca Grande and Clear White) and excellent straw strength. It is medium late maturing (flowers approximately 6 days later than Clear White and 10-12 days later than Blanca Grande). It has a 2NS/2AS translocation from Ae.ventricosum carrying leaf rust resistance gene Lr37, stripe rust resistance gene Yr17, and stem rust resistance gene Sr38. It has a semi-erect juvenile plant growth habit. Flag leaves are recurved and twisted. It has mid-dense, inclined strap shaped heads with white awns, and white glumes that are long and medium length with square shoulders and acuminate beaks. Kernels are oval, white, and hard. Seed has a midsize germ with a narrow crease, rounded cheeks, and a medium sized, non-collared brush. It contains the high molecular weight subunits 5+10 (Glu-D1). Patwin has high loaf volumes which are not significantly different from Blanca Grande but that are significantly larger than those observed for Clear White. All three cultivars have similar flour extraction rates. At the time of release it was resistant to stripe rust, leaf rust, and powdery mildew, moderately resistant to Septoria tritici leaf blotch, and susceptible to BYD. It subsequently became moderately resistant to leaf rust. It is resistant to the root-knot nematode due to the presence of the 2NS translocation from Ae.Ventricosum. It was evaluated as Entry 1419 in the UC Regional Cereal Testing program from 2004-present for late fall planting in the Central Valley, surrounding areas, the south-central coast region, and southern desert areas of California and in the Oregon Spring Wheat Elite Yield Trial conducted in cooperation with the UC Regional Cereal Testing program from 2007-2009 for spring planting in the intermountain region of northern California.

Wit Wolkoring (white woolly wheat) was selected as an alternative to Sonora wheat, from a similar climate region in South Africa, and has proved to be quite similar to the Sonora. The difference is most readily seen in the field. The heads of Wit Wolkoring are cream colored like the straw, whereas those of the Sonora are bronze. Like the Sonora the heads are also woolly, or velvety, in appearance.

Akmolinka (PI 438971) is a cone wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp turgidum). It is a landrace from North Kazakhstan. The heads have a tendency to be branched at the base, giving the appearance of a cone-shaped head. Cone wheat is closely related to durum wheat, and the grain is very hard, much like durum wheat. Starch quality is similar to that of Kronos, the standard for durum pasta, and the dough does not darken on standing, so Akmolinka may be useful for whole wheat pasta. Cone wheat is very prolific, and produces long strong straw. Akmolinka is an awned spring type and has pale yellow seed color. It has tall plant height (can grow up to 5 feet in height). It has been grown successfully in the Sacramento Valley when planted in late November through early December. It has been most successful in wetter years.