Common Name:

General Information

Thinopyrum intermedium is a perennial grass growing from elongated rhizomes. It produces a clump of erect to ascending culms 40 - 120cm long[, ].
The seed has been harvested in the past, mainly as a famine food in times of shortage. Since the mid 20th century, work to improve seed yileds has been carried out and there are now several named cultivars grown on a commercial basis to supply edible seeds to a specialist market. Further developments and improvements in yield could lead to the plant becoming an important food crop. The plant is also commonly grown to stabilize nd restore soils.
Thinopyrum intermedium may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed[]. The plant is long-lived (50+ years), spreads slowly vegetatively, and very
little via seed distribution. It is not considered a "weedy" or invasive species, but can spread into adjoining vegetative communities under ideal climatic and environmental conditions. Research indicates that most seedings do not spread from original plantings. It is known to coexist with native taxa. On favorable sites where it is best adapted, it can maintain dominance and exist as a monoculture[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Eurasia - Germany, south to Portugal and Spain, east through Turkey and the Caucasus to central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan

Habitat

Steppes, on open stony and small-grained hillsides, among shrubs, up to the lower mountain belt; at elevations up to 2,300 metres[].

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Perennial
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Wind, Self
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

When grown at higher elevations (from 1,000 - 2,700 metres) Thinopyrum intermedium can tolerate a minimum annual rainfall of around 300mm, though rainfall requirements are greater at lower elevations[]. The plant can tolerate up to 1,160mm per annum[].Plants can withstand considerable cold, with temperatures down to around -25°c, so long as this is not accompanied by heavy rain[, ].
Requires a sunny position. It prefers well drained loamy to clayey textured soils; the pubescent form performs best on loamy to sandy to shallow soils[]. It can tolerate slightly acidic to mildly saline conditions[]. Plants, especially the pubescent form, can tolerate low fertility[]. Plants are tolerant of moderate, short-lasting seasonal inundation of the soil in spring[].
Plants are very tolerant of fire - top growth is killed but the plant usually resprouts freely from the roots[].
Seed production when the plant has ample moisture in the growing season can reach 500 - 600 kilos per hectare in the first year of harvest, though this diminishes in subsequent years unless the plant is fertilized and preferably also divided[, ].
During the seed conditioning process, some of the seeds lose their hulls, producing naked hull-less grain. The hull-less seeds tend to lose viability more quickly and are therefore not sold for planting hay and forage crops. This grain is now being sold as Wild Triga, the first commercially available perennial grain[].
There are two main forms of this species and at one time the two were treated as distinct (as Agropyron intermedium (Host) P.Beauv., with leaves and flower spikes mainly smooth; and Agropyron trichophorum (Link) K.Richt., which is densely hairy). The two interbreed freely and commercial seed will often produce a mix of the two forms. The hairy form is considered to be slightly more drought tolerant and winter hardy[].

Edible Uses

Seed - raw or cooked[]. A sweet, mild, nutty flavout[]. Usually ground into a powder and used as a flour, it can also be eaten raw when sprouted or can be cooked whole in a similar manner to rice, or be added to stews etc[, ].
The grain has higher levels of protein (20.8%), fat (3.21%) and ash (2.64%) than wheat[]. The protein is nutritionally limiting in lysine as is wheat, but the grain has higher levels than wheat of all the other essential amino acids[]. No functional gluten was found in samples of the grain tested by USDA. However no tests have been conducted to determine if individuals with wheat or gluten allergies can tolerate this grain and, since it is closely related to wheat, there is a possibility that this may cause similar problems[].
Most of the grain will have the hulls still attached after harvesting. Dehulling can be accomplished with any piece of equipment that will rub the grain vigorously. A brush machine in which brushes rotate rapidly inside a cylindrical screen is an effective dehuller[].

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

This species is well adapted to the stabilization of disturbed soils. It can be used in critical and urban areas where irrigation water is limited; and to stabilize ditchbanks, dykes, roadsides and airport landing strips[, ].
The plant can also be use to build soils because of its heavy root production. Levels as high as 7,500 kilos (dry weight) per hectare of root production in the upper 20cm of soil have been measured in five-year-old stands[].
It can be used as a reclamation grass for mine sites[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - if sufficient moisture is available, the seed can be sown shallowly in situ in late summer. It germinates within a few days and grows rapidly before becoming dormant for the winter. New growth in spring is rapid, the plant flowering in early summer and maturing the seed in mid to late summer[]. In drier soils the seed is better sown in the spring, but will generally only give a light crop or no crop of seed in its first year[].
If seed is in short supply then it can be sown in containers in a greenhouse, pricked out into individual pots when large enough to handle and then planted out when 15cm or more tall.
Division of the rhizomes is easy.