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Grass Gallery
Poaceae, Pooideae, Triticeae - Barley
(Family, Subfamily, Tribe)
tribe Triticeae
Hare Barley (Wall Barley, Squirreltail Grass) Hordeum murinum ssp. leporinum (Hordeum leporinum)
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2005
(Introduced, native of the Mediterranean - Brown)
Base: annual, no rhizomes, no stolons (runner stem)
Blade (leaf): weak, 3-8mm wide, 6-15cm long, on culm up to the inflorescence
Auricles (ear shaped appendage): at base of blade, slender, pointed
Culm (main grain stem): thick, succulent, 15-60cm tall, sharp bends and decumbent at base
Inflorescence: dense, erect or nodding, 4-8cm long, 1cm wide excluding awns, often enclosed in a sheath
Spikelet: three large florets per spikelets
Glume: long awns 1-2.5cm long
Lemma: 6-12mm long to base of awns
Awns: 10-13mm long
Other Species In My Area
Fox-tail Barley (Squirreltail Grass) Hordeum jubatum
Fluffy nodding spikes 2"-4" long and almost as wide with long awns. Green to purplish.
(Native of Texas - Shackelford)
Little Barley (Mouse Barley) Hordeum pusillum
Looks like Hordeum leporinum but with short awns.
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Shackelford, Callahan, Brown, Jones)
Common Barley (Grain Barley, Barley) Hordeum vulgare
Looks like Hordeum leporinum but short and very long awns.
(Introduced, native of the Mid-east - Jones)
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