Relatives
Hordeum bulbosum L. - Bulbous barley.
Taxonomical position.
Family Poaceae Benth., genera Hordeum L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial grass. Stalks are 50-110 cm tall and, at the base, are tuberiform, thickened. Leaves flat, 3-7 mm wide, bare or deflexedly haired. Spikes are 6-13 cm long with very fragile axis. Spikelet scales of medium spikelet are narrow-lanceolate, with an awn 1.2-1.8 cm long; the bottom floral scales of medium spikelet have an awn 2-3.6 cm long; and lateral spikelet is awnless or with short awns. Blossoms in May-June. Anemophilous. In the former USSR, there is only the tetraploid variety. 2n=28.Distribution.
Occurs throughout Southern Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean from the Iberian peninsula up to Afghanistan.Ecology.
Grows in xerophylic bush communities, on stony slopes and on taluses.Use and economic value.
Has no economic value.Reference citations:
Grossgeim, A.A. 1939. Flora of Caucasus. Vol. 2. Polypodiaceae-Gramineae. Baku: Publishing House AzFaN. 587 p.Shelyak-Sosonko, Y.P., ed. 1977. Grasses of Ukraine. Kiev: Naukova Dumka. 518 pp.
Tzvelev N.N. 1976. Grasses of the USSR. Leningrad: Nauka. 788 pp. (In Russian)