• 14 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Parts of a Wheat Plant

A wheat plant from roots to head, then the head, one spikelet and one kernel enlarged.

Parts of a Wheat Plant

Name Date

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Head (spike)
  2. Flag leaf
  3. Peduncle
  4. Stem (culm)
  5. Node
  6. Tiller
  7. Crown
  8. Roots
  9. Spikelet
  10. Awns
  11. Rachis
  12. Glume
  13. Floret
  14. Kernel (grain)

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: a grass plant, blade to rhizome

All 14 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The plant 8

  1. Head (spike) The flowering, grain-bearing top of the plant. It is also called the spike or the ear.
  2. Flag leaf The last leaf the plant makes, right below the head. It supplies much of the food that fills the grain.
  3. Peduncle The stem's top section, from flag leaf to head. It is the last part of the stem to lengthen.
  4. Stem (culm) A wheat stem is usually hollow and jointed. Dried after harvest, the stems are straw.
  5. Node A joint of the stem. One leaf is attached at each node, and the stretch of stem between two nodes is an internode.
  6. Tiller A shoot that starts at the plant's base, beside the main shoot. A strong tiller grows a head of its own.
  7. Crown The base of the plant, at or just under the soil surface. The tillers and the later roots grow from it.
  8. Roots Wheat has many thin, fibrous roots. The first grow from the seed, and more grow later from the crown.

The head, enlarged 6

  1. Spikelet One unit of the head. It is a pair of glumes with one or more florets between them. Spikelets sit on alternate sides of the rachis.
  2. Awns Stiff bristles that stand out from the head. Some wheat varieties have awns and some have none.
  3. Rachis The main stalk of the head. It is a row of short joints, with one spikelet at each joint.
  4. Glume One of the pair of bracts at the base of a spikelet. When wheat is threshed the glumes break away as chaff.
  5. Floret A single small flower of the head. Each floret that is pollinated can grow one kernel.
  6. Kernel (grain) The grain, the part that is harvested. It has a crease down one side and a brush of short hairs at the top.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30 against sources read that day; a name is kept only where two of them use it: (1) University of Minnesota Extension, Spring wheat growth and development guide (with its glossary), https://extension.umn.edu/growing-small-grains/spring-wheat-growth-and-development-guide; (2) Kansas State University Research and Extension, Wheat Growth and Development (MF3300), https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/MF3300.pdf; (3) John Percival, The Wheat Plant: A Monograph (1921, public domain), https://archive.org/details/wheatplantmonogr00percuoft; (4) Wikipedia, Wheat, Spikelet and Glume (text only). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

The first drawing shows the parts of a wheat plant in head, from the roots and crown up to the flag leaf and the head. The second enlarges the head, one spikelet and one kernel.

Read the full guide

From the soil up

Numbers 1 to 3 are at the top: the head, the flag leaf under it and the peduncle between them. Numbers 4 and 5 are the stem and a node. Numbers 6 to 8 are at the base: a tiller, the crown and the roots.

Inside the head

Numbers 9 to 11 are a spikelet, the awns and the rachis the spikelets sit on. Numbers 12 and 13 are on one spikelet: a glume and a floret. Number 14 is the kernel.

  • To find the flag leaf, start at the head and come down the stem: it is the first leaf you meet.
  • A head is built of spikelets, a spikelet of florets, and each floret can fill one kernel.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a wheat plant?

Roots, a crown at soil level, tillers, and a jointed stem with a leaf at each node. The top leaf is the flag leaf. Above it the peduncle carries the head, which is made of spikelets that hold the kernels.

What is the head of a wheat plant called?

The head, the spike or the ear. It is a rachis with spikelets on alternate sides, and in bearded wheat each spikelet carries long awns.

What is a tiller on a wheat plant?

A shoot that grows from the base of the plant beside the main shoot. One plant can have several, and each strong tiller grows its own head.

What is the flag leaf?

The last leaf a wheat plant makes, right below the head. It matters to growers because it supplies much of the food that fills the grain.

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