Description: This native grass is
¾–1½' tall and often tufted at the base, sending up multiple
unbranched culms. It is a winter or spring annual. The culms are erect to
ascending and sometimes decumbent at the base; they are terete, light green,
and slender. Each culm has 1-3 alternate leaves along the lower half of its
length. The leaf blades are ¾–2½" long and about 1/8" (3
mm.) across; they are dull pale green, hairless, and flat. Along the culm,
these blades are erect to ascending, rather than widely spreading. The leaf
sheaths are pale green to pale purplish green, finely veined, and hairless. The
nodes are dark-colored and swollen. Each culm terminates in a spike-like
inflorescence about 1½–3" long and ½" across; this stiff and
erect inflorescence consists of 2 rows of spikelets. Each spikelet consists of
a central lemma, 2 lateral lemmas, and their glumes; each lemma has 2 glumes.
The central lemma is sessile, while the lateral lemmas are short-stalked. The
central lemma is 12-15 mm. long (including its awn), linear-lanceolate in
shape, and fertile; its glumes are 10-15 mm. long (including their awns) and
linear-lanceolate in shape. The lateral lemmas are about 5 mm. long (including
their awns, if any) and infertile; their glumes are 10-15 mm. long (including
their awns). One of the glumes of each lateral lemma is linear-lanceolate,
while the other glume is slender and bristle-like. The awns of the glumes and
central lemmas are about 5-6 mm. long. Immature lemmas and glumes are light
green; the wider glumes have narrow cream margins. The blooming period occurs
from late spring to mid-summer. The florets of the fertile lemmas are
cross-pollinated by the wind. The rather large grain of each fertile lemma is
oblongloid in shape and light-colored. The root system is shallow and fibrous.
This grass reproduces by reseeding itself. It occasionally forms small loose
colonies in favorable habitats.
Cultivation: The preference is full sun, dry
conditions, and a sterile soil containing an abundance of gravel, sand, or
clay. Alkaline soil is readily tolerated, if not preferred. Growth and
development occurs rather quickly during the spring and early
summer.
Range & Habitat: Little
Barley is common in southern Illinois, occasional in central Illinois, and
uncommon to absent in the northern section of the state (see
Distribution
Map). This species has a wide distribution in the southern two-thirds of
the continental United States; northern Illinois is located along its northern
range limit. Habitats include dry dolomite prairies, gravelly areas along
railroads, pastures, fallow fields, and sterile waste areas. This species is
somewhat weedy and commonly found in areas with a history of
disturbance.
Faunal
Associations: There is little specific information about
floral-faunal relationships for this species in Illinois. The species
Dissosteira carolina (Carolina Grasshopper) and several other
grasshoppers are known to feed on both cultivated and wild barley grasses
(Hordeum spp.). Many of these grasshoppers prefer the same kind of
habitat as Little Barley – dry sunny areas with scant vegetation. It also
seems likely that some species of mice and ground squirrels eat the seeds
occasionally, as this has been observed for wild barley grasses in the Great
Plains and western states.
Photographic
Location: A dry gravelly area along a railroad near Champaign,
Illinois.
Comments: Little Barley is
related to the Eurasian Hordeum vulgare (Cultivated Barley). Its
appearance is somewhat similar to the awned variety of Cultivated Barley,
except that Little Barley is smaller in size and it has shorter awns. Both of
these species can be found in similar habitats (e.g., fallow fields and
gravelly areas along railroads). The spike-like inflorescence of another
species, Hordeum jubatum (Squirreltail Grass, Foxtail Barley), has a
nodding habit and its silky awns are much longer than those of Little Barley.
The most similar species in the state, Hordeum brachyantherum (Meadow
Barley), is very rare in Illinois. All of the glumes of this perennial grass
have a narrow bristle-like shape. In contrast, some of the glumes of Little
Barley (as described above) are linear-lanceolate and noticeably widened toward
their bases. Little Barley is one of the native plants that was cultivated by
Amerindians in Illinois and other Midwestern states. Some of its seeds were
stored during the fall and winter, planted during the spring, and harvested
during the summer as a grain crop. However, when the squash-bean-corn complex
of crops arrived in this area from Mexico, its cultivation was abandoned as the
latter was more productive.