Kentisch Red Straw here

Kentisch Red Straw is somewhat of an enigma. It seems to have been mentioned as early as 1660 by the first English botanist, John Ray but otherwise there is comparatively little historical record. The number of genebank accessions is limited to 2 from the Netherlands.

Morphologically it is neither that close to Red Lammas and its regional variants such as Old Kent Red being more stocky and filled in its ear although the ear is equal in length to these. The straw is stronger and thicker than the typical Lammas. On the other hand its ear is longer and less square than the Squarehead/Prolific generation of wheats that followed the Lammas and other milling wheats.

Reference #1

Catalogus plantarum circa Cantabrigiam nascentium by John Ray, 1660

Reference #2

Annals of Agriculture, and Other Useful Arts Volume 4 by Arthur Young, 1785 LINK

Identification images

Kentisch Red Straw

Germplasm link

Kentisch Red Straw CGN (NLD) #CGN08767

Kentish Red Straw CGN (NLD) #CGN05518