Aegilops geniculata, Aegilops ovata, Ovate goat-grass,
Hebrew: בן-חיטה ביצני, Arabic: دوسر ركبي

Scientific name:		Aegilops geniculata Roth
Synonym name:		Aegilops ovata L.
Common name:		Ovate goat-grass
Hebrew name:		בן-חיטה ביצני
Arabic name:		دوسر ركبي
Family:		Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים

Life form:		Annual
Stems:		Numerous stems, up to 30 (-40)cm
Leaves:		Alternate, entire, hairy or glabrous, sheats glabrous, margin smooth
Inflorescence:		Spike 1-2cm (excluding awns)
Flowers:		Polygamous, green
Fruits / pods:		Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear, hairy at apex
Flowering Period:		March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Mediterranean
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name: Aegilops, from the Greek aegilos (a herb liked by goats, or a goat), with ‘goatlike’ (referring to whiskery-awned spikelets), literally, "goat in the eye". geniculata, bent sharply like a knee. ovata, egg-shaped, with the broad end down. The Hebrew word:,בן-חיטה, ben-chita , close to wheat, chita. The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy. Wild wheat (Tricium dicoccum) was formed from the hybridization of two ancient species that naturally occurred 500-300,000 years ago. During domestication, another hybrid was created between wild wheat and another species of oats with seven pairs of chromosomes, referred to as "Aegilops tauschii". This wheat, after other and smaller changes, became the bread wheat we now know.