The wheat plant is an annual grass. It is mainly grown as a winter annual in milder climates, with seeding in the fall and harvest from June through August depending on the length of the winter. In areas with rigorous winter climates it is mainly spring seeded. Planting is as earlv as soil can be worked, and harvest is in late summer and early fall. In early growth stages the wheat plant consists of a much compressed stem or crown and numerous narrowly linear or linear-lanceolate leaves.
Leaves are mainly near glabrous.
Buds in the leaf axils below the soil surface grow into lateral branches termed tillers. From both the main crown and the tillers, elongated stems develop later and terminate in a spike or head in which the flowers, and finally the seed or grain, develop. In fall-seeded wheat the plant usually remains in the rosette stage throughout the fall and winter, sending up the elongated stems in late spring. In spring-seeded wheat the rosette period may be short, and tillering is usually much less than in fall plantings. During late fall and early spring, fall-seeded wheat can be lightly pastured without greatly reducing grain yields, and this is frequently done.