Identification of Cereal Seedlings

Note Number: AG0102
Published: March 2008
Updated: July 2012

Cereals growing in  the field at the seedling stage may need to be identified as:

•  
• spray contractors may need to make sure of the plant species  before advising on spraying for weed control with currently registered herbicides.
• land valuers and surveyors completing cereal production  forecasts often need to identify cereals at the early growth stages.
• farmers with potential wild oat problems in their crop may wish  to differentiate wild oats from cultivated oats or other cereals to determine  whether they should spray their crops.

In order to identify  different cereal species, close observation of the seedlings at the junction of  the leaf-sheath and leaf-blade is required (see the illustrations).

The following  features help to distinguish the different cereal species.

Ligule

The ligule is a  projecting flap or collar located at the junction of the leaf-blade and  leaf-sheath. The ligule prevents water entering inside the leaf-sheath where it  might be retained and cause rotting.

Auricle

The auricles are  located at the lower end of the leaf-blade, where it meets the leaf-sheath.  They may be extended as a pair of claw-like projections. Auricles are most  obvious on barley and are absent in oats. 

Leaf-blade

The leaf-blade of  cereals is twisted or curled. When viewed from above these twists are either  clockwise or anti-clockwise.

Key identification of common cereal seedlings

Oat

Auricles absent,  leaf-sheath and blade hairless (scattered hair on some varieties). Ligule  medium length. Leaf-blades twist anticlockwise.

Barley

Auricles long,  slender and hairless, leaf-sheath and blade usually hairless, scattered hairs  on some varieties. Ligule of medium length. Leaf blades twist clockwise.

Rye

Auricles very short  and hairless, leaf-sheath and blade have an inconsistent degree of hairiness.  Ligule short. Leaf-blades twist clockwise.

Wheat

Auricles blunt and  hairy, leaf-sheath and blade always hairy. Ligule of medium length. Leaf blades  twist clockwise.

Triticale

Auricles blunt and  hairy, leaf-sheath and blade hairy. Ligule of medium length. Leaf-blades twist  clockwise.

Wheat and triticale  are difficult to distinguish since their vegetative characters are similar.  Removal of the seedling from the soil and observation of the grain shell may be  a means of distinguishing wheat from triticale.
 

Wheat grain shells  tend to be lighter in colour than triticale. Wheat shells are oval; triticale  grain shells are oblong.

Wild oat

The common wild oat,  a significant weed of cereal crops, cannot be distinguished from cultivated  oats during vegetative growth. Wild oat seed however can be distinguished from  the cultivated oat. Wild oat grain is usually darker, may retain its awn and is  hairy at the base of the husk. The husk of cultivated oats is hairless.

An easy way to  identify all oats from other cereals is to observe the twist of their leaves.  When viewed from above, the oat leaf has an anti-clockwise curl. The leaves of  other cereals curl clockwise.

Further reading

N. T. Gill and K. G. Vear, Agricultural Botany, Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd. London, 1969.

C. E. Hubbard, Grasses: A Guide to their structure, identification, uses, and distribution in the British Isles, Penguin Books, Britain, 1978.