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How to Manage Pests

Identification: Weed Photo Gallery

| Weed Photo Gallery | Key to weeds in turf |

Volunteer wheat

Scientific name: Triticum sp. (Grass Family: Poaceae)

Click on image to enlarge

Life stages of Volunteer wheat flowering head collar of wheat (middle) young wheat stems and leaf blades

Volunteer wheat is an occasional weedy annual grass in crops that follow commercial wheat in crop rotations.

Mature plant

Plants grow from about 2 to 4 feet (0.6–1.2 m) tall and sprout at the base.

Collar region

Wheat can be distinguished from most other grasses by the way the ligules clasp the stem but barely overlap. Ligules on barley plants are longer and overlap one another more completely.

Related species/Similar looking plants

Foxtail barley
Hare barley

More information

Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California
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