HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 





cially around the faces of animals. For this reason, foxtail barley is 

 undesirable as a forage plant. Open ground, mostly in the mid- 

 western and western states. May— August. 



12b. Awns less than 2 cm. long; plants annual. Fig. 170. 



LITTLE BARLEY Hordeum pusiJlum Nutt. 



Annual; culms 10 — 35 cm. tall, in small 

 tufts. Both glumes of the central spikelet 

 and the inner one of each lateral spikelet 

 are broadened above the base. The plants 

 furnish some early season forage, but are 

 rejected by livestock after the spikes 

 emerge. Plams and open ground; com- 

 (// mon in the Middle West and westward. 



February — July. 



Hordeum brachyantherum Nevski is simi- 

 lar, but all of the glumes are narrow. West- 

 ern mountain states, not common in the 

 East. Introduced from Europe. 



Hordeum leporinum Link has thicker 

 spikes which are nearly square in cross 

 //b section and partially hidden in the upper- 



Figure 170 most sheath. Glumes of the central spike- 



let hairy on the edges. Mostly in the plains 

 and mountain states. Introduced from Europe. 

 13a. Glumes nearly as long as the lowermost floret; spikelets erect, 



pressed against the rachis 14 



13b. Glumes very short or lacking; spikelets spreading at right angles 



to the rachis. Fig. 171. 

 BOTTLEBRUSH 



Hystrix paiula Moench 



Perennial in small lufts; culms slender, 

 60 — 120 cm. tall. Spikes 8—15 cm. long, 

 very open, because of the spreading spike- 

 lets. Leaf sheaths smooth or hairy; blades 

 usually 7 — 15 mm. wide. This is a charac- 

 teristic grass of damp woodlands through- 

 out the eastern wooded sections of the 

 country. In var. bigeloviana (Fern.) Deam, 

 the lemmas are hairy. June — August. 



Figure 171 



91 



