G74 



FOXTAIL BARLEY 



Hor'deum juba'tum 



Flower heads (spikes) usually nod- 

 ding, up to 4 in. long and 2 in. wide, 

 with fine, rather soft, straight, spread- 

 ing bristles (awns); axis (rachis) break- 

 ing up at -maturity 



Individual flower groups .(spikelets) 

 1-flowered, in groups of 3 at each joint 

 of the somewhat zigzag rachis, of 2 

 kinds: middle spikelet of each group 

 stalkless, seed-producing, the 2 side 

 spikelets short-stalked, not seed-pro- 

 ducing 



Lowest (2) bracts (glumes) of each 

 spikelet reduced to slender, slightly 

 roughened awns up to 2)< in. long 



Outer flower bract (lemma) of fertile 

 spikelet 5-nerved, with an awn about 

 as long as the glumes 



Lemma of sterile spikelet smaller, 

 short-awned 



Leaves up to 5 in long and V t in. 

 wide, harsh 



Stalks (culms) tufted, erect, up to 2 

 ft. high 



>: Jli 



Roots fibrous, perennial , underground, 

 rootstocks lacking 



Foxtail barley, commonly known as foxtail or squirreltail barley and squir- 

 reltail grass, is a pestiferous perennial, from 8 to 30 inches high, growing in 

 well-defined tufts or bunches. Indigenous in the Western States, the plant 

 is now widely distributed from Alaska to Laborador, New Jersey, Texas, 

 and California, growing more commonly at lower elevations on the plains and 

 in the lower foothills, chiefly in grass types in moist saline and dry soils but 

 also extending upward to subalpine elevations in the spruce belt. It is very 

 common throughout the West, especially along roadsides and other waste 



