Barleys and Wheats
What are they?
Barleys and wheats are well known as crop plants, but there are other species that are native plants of grassland communities in East Anglia, as well as a number of less common species that crop up from time to time. Most of these species can be instantly recognised from other grasses by their flower spikes, which rather resemble the flights on an arrow and are typically furnished with long, stiff awns. Species of wheat that we now know as crops mostly originated in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region, but they have been in cultivation for so long that the precise origin is poorly understood or not known and novel species were probably created through hybridisation long before records were kept. This has resulted in a difficult job for taxonomists in attempting to define the species and changes are often made as new research is carried out.
Where are they found?
These are mostly species of either open, grassy places or of disturbed ground, either arable (as either crops or 'weeds') or urban.
Identification
Click here for help with some of the terminology used on the grass pages. The arrow-like flower spikes typify this group and it is mostly the arrangement of the florets within the head that identifies the species. Barleys and wheats have their florets arranged in small clusters, often with a fertile floret accompanied each side by smaller, barren florets. Thus, attention needs to be paid to this arrangement, together with the overall colour of the plant and the habitat it is in.
Wall Barley Hordeum murinum
A native annual. Common to abundant in rough, disturbed or neglected ground and especially common in urban areas. Flowers May to August. Plants 6-60cm in height, often forming linear colonies along track sides and the foot of walls. Leaf blades 2-8mm wide, softly downy or smooth, rather limp and typically arching over. Leaf sheaths rounded, the lower ones hairy, the uppers hairless. Ligule membranous, very short and largely hidden by the winged auricles that wrap around the stem. Flower spike upright or slightly nodding, 4-12cm long. Spikelets each with a single floret, attached to each other in groups of three, the middle floret bisexual, the outer two male or sterile. Lemmas long and narrow, with a long awn 10-50mm in length.
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Meadow Barley Hordeum secalinum
A native perennial. Widespread in our region in heavier soils, especially where prone to winter flooding, but especially frequent in coastal grazing marshes and along raised, coastal floodbanks, extending out into the upper-saltmarsh. Flowers June to July. Plants to 80cm in height, forming loose tufts with non-flowering shoots present at flowering time. Leaf blades 2-6mm wide, lightly hairy or smooth. Leaf sheaths rounded, the lower ones hairy, the uppers hairless and with a very short auricle or without auricles. Ligule membranous, very short. Flower spike upright but not stiffly so, 2-8cm long. Spikelets each with a single floret, attached to each other in groups of three, the larger middle floret bisexual, the smaller outer two male or sterile. Central florets with lemmas 6-9mm long and narrow, with an awn up to 12mm in length. Care should be taken in separating from Wall Barley, which can be common on floodbanks in some places.
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Sea Barley Hordeum marinum
A native annual. Nationally scarce and patchily distributed on upper-saltmarsh and along bare tracks in coastal grazing marshes and along raised floodbanks. Flowers June. Plants 10-40cm in height, typically forming small tufts without non-flowering shoots at flowering time. Leaf blades 2-6mm wide, lightly hairy or smooth. Leaf sheaths rounded, the lower ones hairy, the uppers hairless and with a short auricle. Ligule membranous, very short. Flower spike rather stiff and upright, 2-8cm long. Spikelets each with a single floret, attached to each other in groups of three, the larger middle floret bisexual, the smaller outer two male or sterile. Central florets with lemmas 6-8mm long and narrow, with an awn up to 24mm in length. Care should be taken in separating from Wall Barley, which can be common on floodbanks in some places.
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Foxtail Barley Hordeum jubatum
Introduced annual or short-lived perennial from North America. Occasionally appears on roadsides or waste ground or where self-sown from birdseed but never becomes established for long. Flowers May to August. Plants to 60cm in height, forming loose tufts. Leaf blades 2-5mm wide, hairy beneath, rough above. Leaf sheaths rounded, hairy. Ligule membranous, very short. Flower spike typically strongly nodding to one side, 3-8cm long. Spikelets each with a single floret, attached to each other in groups of three, the larger middle floret bisexual, the smaller outer two sterile. Central florets with lemmas 6-8mm long and elliptical, with an awn up to 10cm in length. A distinctive species with very long and soft awns which are typically tinged pink, making them very eye-catching.
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Two-rowed Barley Hordeum distichon
An introduced annual, commonly grown as a crop and often appearing where it self-seeds from spilt grain along field margins and bare road margins. Flowers May to June. Plants 40-90cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 14-15mm wide, hairless but rather rough. Leaf sheaths rounded with large, curving and overlapping auricles that wrap around the stem at the base of the leaf blade. Ligule membranous, short, with a blunt tip. Flower spike narrow, dense and upright. Spikelets in groups of three, the middle one fertile and stalkless, the outer two sterile and on short stalks. Glumes with awns 9-10mm long. Lemmas awned, those of the fertile spikelets being up to 12cm long.
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Six-rowed Barley Hordeum vulgare
Introduced and formerly grown as a crop but seldom seen these days and only occasionally found where self-sown, perhaps from birdseed. Flowers May to June. Plants to 100cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 10-15mm wide, hairless and smooth. Leaf sheaths rounded with large, curving and overlapping auricles that wrap around the stem at the base of the leaf blade. Ligule membranous, short, with a blunt tip. Flower spike narrow, dense and upright. Spikelets in groups of three, all fertile. Glumes and awns 20-30mm long. Lemmas with awns up to 18cm long. With all of the florets fertile, the whole head has a distinctly full and fattened look.
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Bread Wheat Triticum aestivum
An introduced annual, commonly grown as a crop and often appearing where it self-seeds from spilt grain along field margins and bare road margins. Flowers May to July. Plants 40-100cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 6-16mm wide, hairless but rather rough on the margins. Leaf sheaths rounded with short, curving auricles at the base of the leaf blade. Ligule membranous, short, with a blunt tip. Flower spike narrow, dense and upright. Spikelets 10-15mm long with 3-6 florets. Glumes broad, unawned 9-10mm long, toothed at the tip. Lemmas typically unawned, but occasionally with an awn up to 16cm long.
Older varieties of Bread Wheat are sometimes grown as a non-commercial crop in small quantity, including Spelt Wheat T. aestivum subspecies spelta and Emmer T. turgidum subspecies dicoccum.
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Rivet Wheat Triticum turgidum
An introduced annual, formerly grown as a crop but now a rare casual from birdseed or other spilt grain. Flowers June to July. Plants 70-150cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 10-20mm wide, covered in soft, whitish hairs. Leaf sheaths open and loose. Ligule membranous. Flower spike narrow, dense, upright at first but later strongly nodding, 4-12cm long. Spikelets 10-15mm long with 5-7 florets. Glumes broad, unawned 8-12mm long, toothed at the tip. Lemmas typically with an awn up to 20cm long.
Sometimes grown as a non-commercial crop in small quantity, this species as currently described consists of a number of subspecies that have been used as a source to make pasta (Durum Wheat T. turgidum subspecies durum) or for making other cereal products (Rivet Wheat T. turgidum subspecies turgidum and Emmer T. turgidum subspecies dicoccum).
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Cereal Rye Secale cereale
An introduced annual, formerly grown as a crop, especially in Breckland on light sandy soils but now rather rare. Occasional plants turn up from sources of spilt grain. Flowers May to July. Plants 70-150cm in height, tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades 2-10mm wide, smooth or very slightly hairy. Leaf sheaths rounded. Ligule membranous, short. Flower spike strongly compressed in one plane, up to 20cm long, upright at first but later nodding. Spikelets 13-15mm long, compressed, with 2 florets. Glumes narrow, unawned or very shortly awned, 6-13mm long. Lemmas 7-15mm, shortly spiny along the margins, typically with an awn up to 5cm long. The whole plant is covered in a blue-grey pruinescence, which can also occur in Bread Wheat and Triticale.
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Triticale X Triticosecale rimpaui
An artificial, bigeneric hybrid, between Bread Wheat and Cereal Rye that is rarely recorded but has recently been appearing in cover strips sown around arable field margins. Flowers June to July. A rather variable range of hybrids that are usually intermediate in characters between the parents. Triticale typically shows the strong blue colouration of Cereal Rye but has thicker, less laterally flattened flower spikes and lacks the strongly spikey or pectinate margins to the lemmas.
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