Spelt

Spelt (Triticum spelta), also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BCE.

This article is about the wheat species. For the past tense and past participle of "spell", see Spelling.

Spelt
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus: Triticum
Species:
T. spelta
Binomial name
Triticum spelta
Synonyms
  • Spelta vulgaris Ser.
  • Triticum arias Clemente
  • Triticum elymoides Hornem.
  • Triticum forskalei Clemente
  • Triticum palmovae G.I.Ivanov
  • Triticum rufescens Steud. nom. inval.
  • Triticum speltiforme Seidl ex Opiz
  • Triticum speltoides Flaksb. nom. inval.
  • Triticum zea Host
  • Zeia spelta (L.) Lunell

Spelt was an important staple food in parts of Europe from the Bronze Age to medieval times. Now it survives as a relict crop in Central Europe and northern Spain, and it has found a new market as a health food. Spelt is sometimes considered a subspecies of the closely related species common wheat (T. aestivum), in which case its botanical name is considered to be Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta. Like common wheat, it is a hexaploid wheat, which means it has six sets of chromosomes.

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