Northern Barley-grass - introduced (*Hordeum glaucum)

Native to the Mediterraneum area and Europe. Annual. C3.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Other names: *Critesion murinum ssp glaucum.

Occurrence: Common.

Identification

• the flower cluster is dense and spike-like cluster
• as in other barley grasses, the spikelets are in threes, which fall together
• the glumes and lemmas taper into long stout awns
• the leaves are flat
• the ligules are membranous, and 0.5-1mm long.

The outer glumes of the outer spikelets are narrow at the base; the glumes of the inner spikelet and inner glumes of the outer spikelets are widened at the base.

It is an environmental weed.

It differs from Barley-grass in that

• the anthers of the central floret of are pale (dark in H. leporinum)
• the stem just below the join of the spikelets is c2mm (2.5mm or more in H. leporinum)
• the stem just below the join of the spikelets is straw-coloured (greenish in H. leporinum)
• the leaves are usually blue-green (glaucous) (green in H. leporinum).

glaucum: grey-blue.

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