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Hordeum

 
(′hör·dē·əm)

(botany) A genus of the order Cyperales containing all species of barley.


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Grass family
Gramineae

Hor'dee-um. About 25 species of grasses widely distributed in temperate regions, including Barley.

Description
Leaves flat, grasslike, terminal. Flower clusters more or less cylindrical. Spikes mostly dense, with conspicuous awns, the individual spikelets 1-flowered, 3 of the spikelets at each node of the jointed stalk. Due to the infertility of some spikes, the resulting cluster may be 2-rowed or 4-rowed.

How to Grow
In early spring work up the soil and lay down a 2-3 ft. (60-90 cm) square of clear plastic secure the edges with soil. Cut 6-in. (15-cm) crosses, and plant seeds where they can grow through the slits. Cover plastic with dried grass clippings to shade out weeds. Plants prefer warm weather.

Hordeum jubatum
Squirrel-Tail Grass ; Squirrel-Tail Barley . 12-30 in. (30-75 cm) high, mostly unbranched. Spikes 4 in. (10 cm) long, light green to silvery to golden tan, awns slender and to 3 in. (7.5 cm) long. North and South America; Siberia. Can be a troublesome weed if not controlled. Perennial treated as a hardy annual.



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Hordeum

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IN BRIEF: n. - Annual to perennial grasses of temperate northern hemisphere and South America: barley.

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The barley genus of cereals and grasses in the family Poaceae.

  • H. geniculatum (syn. H. hystrix), H. jubatum, H. leporinum, H. murinum — some of the grasses which are significant causes of grass seed injury and grass seed abscess; heavy seed content may cause feed refusal. Called also barley grass. The seeds are also called foxtails.
  • H. vulgare — cereal barley, one of the cereal grains commonly involved in carbohydrate engorgement. The green crop if grazed may cause hypomagnesemia or nitrite poisoning.
Hordeum
Hordeum vulgare f. distichon
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Hordeum
L.

Hordeum is a genus of about 30 species of annual and perennial grasses, native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, temperate South America, and also South Africa.

One species, H. vulgare (barley), is of major commercial importance as a cereal grain, used as fodder crop and for malting in beer and whiskey production. Some species are nuisance weeds introduced worldwide by human activities others endangered due to habitat loss.

Hordeum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including The Flame, Rustic Shoulder-knot and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

The name comes from the Latin for bristle, and is akin to horror.

Species

The genus Hordeum comprises many species (see much longer list at WikiSpecies entry):

  • Hordeum arizonicum
  • Hordeum bogdanii
  • Hordeum brachyantherum
    • H. brachyantherum subsp. brachyantherum
    • H. brachyantherum subsp. californicum
  • Hordeum brevisubulatum
    • H. brevisubulatum subsp. brevisubulatum
    • H. brevisubulatum subsp. iranicum
    • H. brevisubulatum subsp. nevskianum
    • H. brevisubulatum subsp. turkestanicum
    • H. brevisubulatum subsp. violaceum
  • Hordeum bulbosum
  • Hordeum capense
  • Hordeum chilense
  • Hordeum comosum
  • Hordeum cordobense
  • Hordeum depressum
  • Hordeum erectifolium
  • Hordeum euclaston
  • Hordeum flexuosum
  • Hordeum fuegianum
  • Hordeum guatemalense
  • Hordeum gussoneanum (sea barley)
  • Hordeum intercedens
  • Hordeum jubatum (foxtail barley)
  • Hordeum lechleri
  • Hordeum marinum (sea barley)
  • Hordeum murinum (wall barley)
  • Hordeum muticum
  • Hordeum patagonicum
    • H. patagonicum subsp. patagonicum
    • H. patagonicum subsp. magellanicum
    • H. patagonicum subsp. mustersi
    • H. patagonicum subsp. santacrucense
    • H. patagonicum subsp. setifolium
  • Hordeum parodii
  • Hordeum procerum
  • Hordeum pubiflorum
    • H. pubiflorum subsp. pubiflorum
    • H. pubiflorum subsp. halophilum
  • Hordeum pusillum (little barley)
  • Hordeum roshevitzii
  • Hordeum secalinum
  • Hordeum stenostachys
  • Hordeum tetraploidum
  • Hordeum vulgare (barley)
    • H. vulgare subsp. vulgare (barley)
    • H. vulgare f. distichon (two-rowed barley)
    • H. vulgare f. hexastichon (six-rowed barley)
    • H. vulgare subsp. spontaneum (wild barley)

References

External links


 
 
Related topics:
foxtails
hordeic
hordein

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Copyrights:

McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Taylor's Guide to Annuals. Taylor's Guide for Annuals, by Norman Taylor, revised and edited by Gordon P. DeWolf, Jr. Copyright © 1986 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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