Page author: Don Knoke
Hordeum pusillum
little barley
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Eastern Washington south to southern California, east to the Atlantic Coast.

Habitat: Grasslands to desert areas, often on saline soils and wasteland.

Flowers: April - June

Origin: Native

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Description:
General:

Glabrous to pubescent annual, the culms 1-4 dm. tall.

Leaves:

Sheaths open; auricles lacking; ligules barely 0.5 mm. long; blades flat, 2-4 mm. broad.

Flowers:

Inflorescence an erect, terminal spike 3-7 cm. long; spikelets 3 per node, 1-flowered, the central spikelet sessile, its lemma with an awn 10-15 mm. long; lateral spikelets on a short, curved pedicle, their florets reduced, awn-tipped; glumes of the central spikelet and the inner glumes of the lateral spikelets broadened above the base for the length of the floret, 0.5-1.8 mm. broad, narrowed to slender awns 10-12 mm. long, the outermost glumes shorter, awn-like from the base.

Accepted Name:
Hordeum pusillum Nutt.
Publication: Gen. N. Amer. Pl. 1: 87. 1818.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Critesion pusillum (Nutt.) Á. Löve
Hordeum pusillum Nutt. var. pubens Hitchc.
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Hordeum pusillum in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database.

WA Flora Checklist: Hordeum pusillum checklist entry.

OregonFlora: Hordeum pusillum information.

E-Flora BC: Hordeum pusillum atlas page.

CalPhotos: Hordeum pusillum photos.

USDA Plants: Hordeum pusillum information.

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