Foxtail barley | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Pooideae |
Genus: | Hordeum |
Species: | H. jubatum |
Binomial name | |
Hordeum jubatum | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Hordeum jubatum, with common names foxtail barley, [2] bobtail barley, [2] squirreltail barley, [2] and intermediate barley, [2] is a perennial plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in many countries. The species is a polyploid and originated via hybridization of an East Asian Hordeum species with a close but extinct relative of Californian H. brachyantherum . It is grown as an ornamental plant for its attractive inflorescences and when done flowering for its inflorescence.
Foxtail barley (Hordeum jubatum) propagates by seed. It is known for its ability to tolerate saline soils but is capable of productive growth on soil types ranging from loamy to clayey soils with pH's of 6.4 to 9.5. The upper limit of soil NaCl for productive growth and development is 1.0%. Foxtail barley is also adapted to a wide range of moisture regimes from dry to wet. Although this species is generally found on moist sites, it can withstand drought-like conditions. It is commonly found in lowland areas with restricted soil drainage, disturbed sites, waste areas and fields. Foxtail barley is a pioneer species or invader in disturbed areas and in areas with high salinity. It is among the first grasses to establish after disturbance and rapidly invades areas exposed by a receding water table.
Foxtail barley is a prolific seed producer, with each plant capable of producing upwards of 200 seeds. Seeds are elliptical, yellowish-brown and about a 0.25 inches (0.64 cm) long with four to eight awns (the long bristles). The seeds also have sharp, backwards-pointing barbs that can catch on surfaces such as skin, clothing, or hair that come into contact with them. Seed is dispersed by wind, machinery and animals, and germinates in the cooler temperatures of the spring or fall. Seed that germinates in the fall can overwinter and then resume growing in early spring, giving foxtail barley a competitive advantage over many crops. Germination is inhibited by warm temperatures, and the seeds require a period of darkness for germination to occur. Foxtail barley is a shallow-rooted plant with germination occurring at soil depths not greater than 3 inches (7.6 cm). The seedling of foxtail barley first appears as thin, vertical leaves covered in short, dense hairs. The leaves have prominent venation and rough margins, while auricles are absent or elemental and the membranous ligule is very short with fine hairs.
Foxtail barley is a fibrous-rooted, densely tufted grass that grows from 30–100 centimetres (12–39 in) tall and is erect or reclining at the base. The stems are erect and smooth and the leaf sheaths are split and hairy. The inflorescence of the mature plant is a dense, long-awned nodding spike with greenish or purplish colouring. The jointed rachis divides into sharply pointed segments with three spikelets composing each segment. Only the central spikelet has one creamy coloured seed while each segment has seven awns with upward pointing barbs. These awns are up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) long and become easily attached to animals, clothing, machinery, etc. Leaf blades are slender and a greyish-green colour.
Foxtail barley is distinguished from cultivated barley ( H. vulgare L.) and Meadow barley ( H. brachyantherum ) by length of awns in the lemma. H. brachyantherum has awn lengths of 0.5 inches (1.3 cm); Foxtail barley has lengths of 0.5–3 inches (1.3–7.6 cm); and cultivated barley of 10–15 centimetres (3.9–5.9 in) in length. Once foxtail barley is established, it becomes extremely difficult to eradicate. Its extensive root systems and aggressive habit, as well as its ability to tolerate saline soils make it a resilient competitor. It is considered a weed because of this competitive ability and the dangers it poses to wildlife and livestock. While foxtail barley may be palatable for animals in early spring before it flowers, its seed heads, when dry, are very harmful to grazing animals. [3] The awns can harm animals, [4] as their upward-pointing barbs become easily attached and embedded in the animal's mouth and face; once embedded they can cause severe irritation, abscesses, and even blindness. In horses they can cause painful ulcers and excessive salivation resulting in eating difficulties. [5] It is a weed in wheat cultivation. [6]
Foxtail barley is also host to a number of viruses, [7] and because it harbours wheat rust and blackstem rust, can indirectly affect the development of field crops.[ citation needed ] Holtz et al., 2013 find H. jubatum is also host to Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) and Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei (Psh). [8]
Since foxtail barley accumulates high amounts of salt in its leaves and roots, it has the potential of reducing soil salinity. Given foxtail barley's ability to withstand saline soils, it has been identified as having potential for the revegetation of saline mine spoils to reduce erosion. It has also been recommended as a species suitable for wildlife habitat rehabilitation on disturbed lands, but given its other less desirable traits, other natural grass species would be more beneficial.
Foxtail barley has been recorded as having varied uses among Native North American societies. The Chippewa and Potawatomi used the root as medicine; the Kawaiisu pounded and ate the seeds dry, or used the plant as a tool to rub the skin off yucca stalks. Jacques Rousseau noted Iroquois children placing the dried seed heads in the sleeves of others as a prank. The Ramah Navajo considered the plant poisonous and avoided it. [9]
Hordeum is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.
A foxtail is a spikelet or cluster of a grass, that serves to disperse its seeds as a unit. Thus, the foxtail is a type of diaspore or plant dispersal unit. Some grasses that produce a foxtail are themselves called "foxtail", also "spear grass". They can become a health hazard for dogs, cats, and other domestic animals, and a nuisance for people.
In botany, an awn is either a hair- or bristle-like appendage on a larger structure, or in the case of the Asteraceae, a stiff needle-like element of the pappus.
Avena sterilis is a species of grass weed whose seeds are edible. Many common names of this plant refer to the movement of its panicle in the wind.
Aegilops triuncialis, or barbed goatgrass, is a grass species of the family Poaceae. It is a winter annual native to many areas in Eastern and Mediterranean Europe and Western Asia. It is considered an introduced, invasive species in North America, mainly in the Western coast of the United States. In its native lands, the grass thrives in mainly rocky, serpentine soil, but also does well in grasslands and ruderal/disturbed ground as well as oak woodlands.
Barley stripe rust is a fungal disease of barley caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. hordei. a forma specialis of Puccinia striiformis. It was first detected in the United States in 1991, in northern and eastern Idaho in 1993, In 1995 it was detected for the first time in western Washington and western Oregon and is currently considered to be well established there. The disease initially develops at a small loci within a field and spreads rapidly and has caused significant losses in areas where climatic conditions are cool and wet.
Puccinia striiformis is a fungal species and plant pathogen. It causes stripe rust on wheat, but has other hosts as well. The species is common in Europe and in more recent years has become a problem in Australia. Crop infections can cause losses of up to 40%, and the fungus will infect both winter wheat and spring wheat.
Puccinia coronata is a plant pathogen and causal agent of oat and barley crown rust. The pathogen occurs worldwide, infecting both wild and cultivated oats. Crown rust poses a threat to barley production, because the first infections in barley occur early in the season from local inoculum. Crown rusts have evolved many different physiological races within different species in response to host resistance. Each pathogenic race can attack a specific line of plants within the species typical host. For example, there are over 290 races of P. coronata. Crops with resistant phenotypes are often released, but within a few years virulent races have arisen and P. coronata can infect them.
Bromus hordeaceus, the soft brome, is an annual or biennial species of grass in the grass family (Poaceae). It is also known in North America as bull grass, soft cheat, and soft chess.
Hordeum murinum is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as wall barley or false barley. It is a close relative of cultivated barley.
Hordeum pusillum, also known as little barley, is an annual grass native to most of the United States and southwestern Canada. It arrived via multiple long-distance dispersals of a southern South American species of Hordeum about one million years ago. Its closest relatives are therefore not the other North American taxa like meadow barley or foxtail barley, but rather Hordeum species of the Pampas of central Argentina and Uruguay. It is less closely related to the Old World domesticated barley, from which it diverged about 12 million years ago. It is diploid.
Bromus diandrus is a species of grass known by the common names great brome and "ripgut brome".
Elymus elymoides is a species of wild rye known by the common name squirreltail. This grass is native to central and western North America.
Hordeum brachyantherum, known by the common name meadow barley, is a species of barley. It is native to western North America from Alaska to northern Mexico, coastal areas of easternmost Russia (Kamchatka), and a small area of coastal Newfoundland.
Barley, a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikelets and making it much easier to harvest. Its use then spread throughout Eurasia by 2000 BC. Barley prefers relatively low temperatures and well-drained soil to grow. It is relatively tolerant of drought and soil salinity but is less winter-hardy than wheat or rye.
Hordeum arizonicum is a species of wild barley known by the common name Arizona barley. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, where it grows in wet spots in desert regions, such as irrigation ditches. It can grow in somewhat saline soils. This is an annual or perennial grass forming erections 20 to 70 cm high. The inflorescence is a spike up to about 12 cm long made up of spikelets up to about 3 cm long each, usually tipped with awns.
Hordeum intercedens is a diploid, annual species of wild barley known by the common names bobtail barley and vernal barley. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it is an increasingly rare member of the flora in saline and alkaline soils near seasonal waterflows and vernal pool habitats. Today most occurrences are located on the Channel Islands of California; many of the occurrences known from the mainland have been extirpated in the process of land development. This is an annual grass growing erect to bent in small tufts with stems up to 40 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a green spike up to 6.5 centimeters long made up of awned spikelets between 1 and 2 centimeters long.
Wheat yellow rust, also known as wheat stripe rust, is one of the three major wheat rust diseases, along with stem rust of wheat and leaf rust.
Hordeum spontaneum, commonly known as wild barley or spontaneous barley, is the wild form of the grass in the family Poaceae that gave rise to the cereal barley. Domestication is thought to have occurred on two occasions, first about ten thousand years ago in the Fertile Crescent and again later, several thousand kilometres further east.
Ischaemum rugosum, also known as saramollagrass, is a flowering plant belonging to the grass family Poaceae in the genus Ischaemum, and is native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, growing in marshes and other wet habitats. It is a vigorous annual, and is an invasive species in South America and Madagascar. It reaches heights of up to 1 m and is primarily recognized by the ridged surface of its sessile spikelet’s lower glume. Despite its historic importance as fodder in Asia, the grass has become a major weed in mid-latitude rice paddies throughout Asia and South America.