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bulbous barley, charming barley (ssp. leporinum), foxtail barley, hare barley, mouse barley, mouse barley (ssp. murinum), seagreen barley (ssp. glaucum), smooth barley, wall barley

meadow barley

Habit Plants annual; loosely tufted. Plants perennial; loosely to densely cespitose.
Culms

to 110 cm, usually erect, sometimes almost prostrate;

nodes glabrous.

to 90 cm, erect to geniculate, not bulbous;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

glabrous or densely pubescent;

auricles absent;

blades to 19 cm long, to 8 mm wide, glabrous or with hairs on both surfaces, hairs sometimes of mixed lengths.

Spikes

3-8 cm long, 7-16 mm wide, pale green to distinctly reddish, especially the awns;

rachises disarticulating at maturity.

3-8.5 cm, green to somewhat purple.

Glumes

7-19 mm, ascending to slightly divergent at maturity.

Lower

sheaths often completely surrounding the culms, glabrous or somewhat pilose;

ligules 1-4 mm;

auricles to 8 mm, well developed even on the upper leaves;

blades to 28 cm, usually flat, occasionally with involute margins, glabrous or sparsely pilose, sometimes scabrous.

Central

spikelets sessile, florets sessile or pedicellate, pedicels to 2 mm;

glumes 11-25 mm long, 0.8-1.8 mm wide, flattened, margins usually distinctly ciliate;

lemmas 8-14 mm long, to 2 mm wide, more or less smooth, awned, awns 20-40 mm;

lodicules glabrous or with 1+ cilia;

anthers 0.2-3.2 mm, gray to yellow, sometimes with purple spots.

spikelets: glumes 9-19 mm long, about 0.2 mm wide, setaceous throughout, rarely flattened near the base;

lemmas 5.5-10 mm, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent, awned, awns 3.5-14 mm;

anthers 0.8-4 mm.

Lateral

spikelets staminate, floret sessile;

glumes flattened, margins ciliate;

lemmas 8-15 mm, awned, awns 20-50 mm;

paleas 8-15 mm;

rachillas 2.5-6.5 mm, slender or gibbous, yellow.

spikelets staminate;

glumes 7-19 mm, setaceous;

lower glumes sometimes flattened near the base;

lemmas rudimentary to well developed, awns to 7.5 mm, rarely absent;

anthers 0.8-4 mm.

2n

= 14, 28, 42.

= 14, 28, 42.

Hordeum murinum

Hordeum brachyantherum

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; GA; ID; MA; MD; ME; MT; NC; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OK; OR; PA; SC; TX; UT; VA; WA; WY; HI; AB; BC
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from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; IL; IN; MD; ME; MO; MS; MT; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; TX; UT; WA; WY; HI; AB; BC; NL; QC; SK; YT
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Discussion

Hordeum murinum is native to Eurasia, where it is a common weed in areas of human disturbance. It is thought to have originated around seasides, sandy riverbanks, and animal watering holes. It is now an established weed in the southwestern Flora region and other scattered locations. The records in Alaska are from the Anchorage area. Prostrate plants are associated with grazing. Three subspecies are recognized.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Hordeum brachyantherum is native to the Kamchatka Peninsula and western North America, and has been introduced to a few locations in the eastern United States. There is also a small disjunct population in Newfoundland and Labrador that Baum (1978) identified as H. secalinum. Hordeum brachyantherum grows in salt marshes, pastures, woodlands, subarctic woodland meadows, and subalpine meadows.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Central spikelets sessile to subsessile; lemmas of the central florets subequal to those of the lateral florets, the awns longer than those of the lateral florets; paleas of the lateral florets almost glabrous
subsp. murinum
1. Central spikelets pedicellate; lemmas of the central florets from subequal to shorter than those of the lateral florets, the awns from shorter to longer than those of the lateral florets; paleas of the lateral florets scabrous to hairy.
→ 2
2. Lemmas of the central florets much shorter than those of the lateral florets; paleas of the lateral florets scabrous on the lower 1/2; anthers of the central and lateral florets similar in size
subsp. leporinum
2. Lemmas of the central florets about equal to those of the lateral florets; paleas of the lateral florets distinctly pilose on the lower 1/2; anthers of the central florets 0.2-0.6 mm long, those of the lateral florets 1.2-1.8 mm long
subsp. glaucum
1. Basal sheaths usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely pubescent; anthers 0.8-3.5 mm long; culms often robust, sometimes slender
subsp. brachyantherum
1. Basal sheaths usually densely pubescent; anthers 1.1-4 mm long; culms usually slender
subsp. californicum
Source FNA vol. 24, p. 250. FNA vol. 24, p. 243.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Triticeae > Hordeum Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Triticeae > Hordeum
Sibling taxa
H. arizonicum, H. brachyantherum, H. bulbosum, H. depressum, H. intercedens, H. jubatum, H. marinum, H. pusillum, H. secalinum, H. vulgare
H. arizonicum, H. bulbosum, H. depressum, H. intercedens, H. jubatum, H. marinum, H. murinum, H. pusillum, H. secalinum, H. vulgare
Subordinate taxa
H. murinum subsp. glaucum, H. murinum subsp. leporinum, H. murinum subsp. murinum
H. brachyantherum subsp. brachyantherum, H. brachyantherum subsp. californicum
Synonyms H. nodosum, Critesion brachyantherum
Name authority L. Nevski
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