Hordeum murinum |
Hordeum bulbosum |
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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 |
bulbous barley |
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Habit | Plants annual; loosely tufted. | Plants perennial. | ||||||||
Culms | to 110 cm, usually erect, sometimes almost prostrate; nodes glabrous. |
to 135 cm, erect or somewhat geniculate; basal internodes usually bulbous, with 1-4 ellipsoid to pyriform bulbs per culm; nodes glabrous. |
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Sheaths | glabrous or pubescent; auricles well developed, to 5.5 mm; blades to 6 mm wide, flat, scabrous, often also pubescent. |
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Spikes | 3-8 cm long, 7-16 mm wide, pale green to distinctly reddish, especially the awns; rachises disarticulating at maturity. |
4.5-16.5 cm. |
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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. |
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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 subsessile; glumes 10-25 mm, flattened near the base, margins more or less ciliate; lemmas glabrous, awns 12-50 mm; lodicules densely pilose; anthers 4.5-10 mm, yellow to violet. |
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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: lower glumes flattened near the base; upper glumes setaceous; lemmas usually unawned, sometimes awned, awns to 14 mm; anthers to 9 mm. |
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2n | = 14, 28, 42. |
= 14, 28. |
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Hordeum murinum |
Hordeum bulbosum |
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Distribution |
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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CA |
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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 bulbosum is native to the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia. In the Flora region, it is known as an occasional escape from breeding programs. In its native range it is found in a wide range of habitats, from wet meadows to dry hillsides, roadsides, and abandoned fields. It is one of two obligate outcrossers in the genus, H. brevisubulatum (Trin.) Link being the other. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 250. | FNA vol. 24, p. 252. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | ||||||||||
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Name authority | L. | L. | ||||||||
Web links |
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