Triticum cereale (Linnaeus) Salisbury (1796), not Schrank (1789); T. secale Link.

Culms erect, 80–180 cm tall, scabrous or villous below spike. Leaf blade glaucous, 10–20 × (0.2–)0.5–1 cm, glabrous or abaxial surface sparsely pilose. Spike erect, 5–15 × 1–1.5 cm excluding awns; rachis tough. Spikelets ca. 15 mm excluding awns, with 2(or 3) florets. Glumes linear or linear-lanceolate, 10–12 mm, scabrous along keels, margin membranous, apex usually acuminate. Lemma strongly compressed, 12–15 mm, pectinately spinose-ciliate along keels; awn 30–50 mm. Palea equaling lemma. Fl. and fr. Jul–Aug. 2n = 14.

Cultivated. Anhui, Fujian, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei,Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [widely cultivated elsewhere].