Species Detail Grasses

Plant - Utah State University, Intermountain Herbarium @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)		Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants Hordeum brachyantherum - meadow barley Other Common Names: northern barley Plant Form: Grass Family: Poaceae


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Seedhead Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA)


	Grass Description - Glossary of Grass Terminology Origin: Native Season: Warm Habitat Description: Grows mainly in meadows, wetlands and disturbed areas. Plant Communities:Riparian, Disturbed Areas Elevation: Below 10000 feet General Description Desc: Plants grow in tufted clumps with erect stems that are 10 to 30 inches tall. Identification Notes: Perennial, spreading at the base; seedheads erect; basal sheaths usually without hair, lower may be somewhat hairy; glumes 7 to 17 mm, usually straight at maturity; lemmas usually awned; awns less than 1/2 inch, usually straight at maturity. Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: N Stolons: N Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): N Height with Seedheads: 24 to 36 inches Seedhead Structure: Unbranched Seedhead Droops: N Flowering Period: Jun - Jul Flower Characteristics Number of Flowers per Spikelet: One-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N Awns: Greater than 1 inch Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N Flower and Seedhead Notes: Three spikelets per node; attached to the main axis.; lateral spikelets are sterile; central spikelet is fertile. Seedhead is erect or slightly nodding. Awns are less than 1/2 inch long. Vegetative Charcteristics Blade Hairy: Y Blade with White Margins: N Blade Cross section: Flat Blade Notes: Blades are up to 3/4 inch long and 1/2 inch wide, both sides usually smooth but sometimes have short downy hairs on both surfaces. Sheath Hairy: Y Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: N Ligules: Membranous Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: N Forage Value: This native grass is the most valuable of the barleys for forage because, unlike the introduced barleys, it has short, fine awns, which are fairly safe for stock consumption. Forage value is rated from low to medium for livestock, high in spring for deer.


	Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai County 840 Rodeo Dr #C Prescott, AZ 86305 (928) 445-6590	Version 8.0 http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailGrass.php Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022 Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson Legal Disclaimer