Grain
Purple Straw
B tier
Purple Straw is a historic soft red winter wheat of the American South, named for purplish stem colour at maturity. It was a nineteenth-century staple before harder red winter types and modern cultivars displaced it; revival growers prize it for biscuits, pastry, and mild soft flour. Soft endosperm and lower protein suit tender biscuits, pie crusts, and cakes more than high-rising pan bread. Whole berries and stone-ground meal appear in heritage Southern cookery projects.
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History
Purple Straw was documented as an important soft red winter wheat in the southeastern United States.
Southern farms relied on Purple Straw for home milling and regional markets.
Improved soft red winter cultivars began replacing Purple Straw commercially.
Purple Straw survived mainly in seed collections and isolated farm stocks.
Southern heritage grain movements reintroduced Purple Straw to small mills.
Biscuit and pastry bakers featured Purple Straw flour for tender crumb.