WCI Widdicombe

Triticale

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Brevis'

Summary: At booting, ‘WCI Widdicombe' has a high frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves while ‘Brevis' has a low frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves. At the beginning of anthesis, the awns on the spike of ‘WCI Widdicombe' have a strong intensity of anthocyanin colouration while those of ‘Brevis' have a low to medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration. During anthesis, the flag leaf of ‘WCI Widdicombe' is longer than the flag leaf of ‘Brevis'. The awns above the tip of the spike of ‘WCI Widdicombe' are very short while those of ‘Brevis' are short. The first beak on the lower glume of 'WCI Widdicombe' is short while that of ‘Brevis' is of a medium length. Excluding the awns, the spike of ‘WCI Widdicombe' is longer than the spike of ‘Brevis'. The kernel of ‘WCI Widdicombe' is red while that of ‘Brevis' is amber. At maturity, the kernel of ‘WCI Widdicombe' is long and wide while the kernel of ‘Brevis' is medium in length and width. With exposure to phenol, the kernel of 'WCI Widdicombe' has a medium degree of colouration while the kernel of ‘Brevis' has light colouration.

Description:

PLANT: hexaploid, spring type, semi-erect growth habit at tillering, high frequency of plants with recurved flag leaves at booting, heads mid-season

FLAG LEAF: weak intensity of anthocyanin colouration on auricles, strong glaucosity of sheath

CULM: slightly to moderately curved neck, very dense pubescence
STRAW (STEM): thick pith in cross-section

SPIKE: strong to very strong glaucosity, fully awned, white at maturity, lax, medium to broad in profile
AWNS: strong intensity of anthocyanin colouration at the beginning of anthesis, very short
LOWER GLUME: short first beak, absent or very small second beak, hairs present on external surface
ANTHERS: medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration at mid-anthesis

KERNEL: red, large, long, wide, ovate, medium colouration with phenol

WINTER SURVIVAL: poor

Origin & Breeding History: 'WCI Widdicombe' (experimental designations T301 and 10L063003) was developed using a modified bulk method of breeding. The variety originated from a cross between the line 09P118 and the variety ‘Taza' conducted at the Alberta Agriculture Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe, Alberta in 2010. The variety was advanced in bulk plots to F7 generation where heads were selected and grown in headrows in 2017. One F8 line, designated 10L063003, was grown in a non-replicated yield trial in 2018 and tested in replicated plots and disease nurseries in 2019 and 2020. Based on yield, test weight, thousand kernel weight, lodging resistance, disease resistance, maturity and quality, the line was entered in the Western Spring Triticale Cooperative trial as T301 in 2021. Breeder seed was established at the F14 generation in 2023.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trials for 'AB Widdicombe' were conducted during the 2024 and 2025 growing seasons at Western Crop Innovations Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe, Alberta. There were 3 replicates per variety per year. In 2024 the plots consisted of 8 rows, each row measuring 2.5 metres long with 0.14 metres inter-row spacing. In 2025 the plots consisted of 4 rows, each row measuring 2.5 metres long with 0.28 metres inter-row spacing. The seeding density resulted in approximately 2350 plants per variety per year. Measured characteristics were based on a minimum of 30 measurements per variety per year. Mean differences were significant at the 5% probability level based on a paired Student`s t-test.

Comparison tables for 'WCI Widdicombe' with reference variety 'Brevis'

Flag leaf length (cm)

Spike length (excluding awns) (cm)

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Triticale: ‘WCI Widdicombe' (left) with reference variety ‘Brevis' (right)

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Triticale: ‘WCI Widdicombe' (left) with reference variety ‘Brevis' (right)

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Triticale: ‘WCI Widdicombe' (left) with reference variety ‘Brevis' (right)