Taxonomic Anomalies 679 



whole spike. The axillary flower is protected on 

 the opposite side by a two-keeled inner palet. 

 Each flower exhibits three stamens and an 

 ovary. In the six-rowed barley all the three 

 flowers of a triple spikelet are fertile, and each 

 of them has a long awn, on the top of the outer 

 palet. But in the two-rowed species only the 

 middle-most flower is normal and has an awn, 

 the two remaining being sterile and more or less 

 rudimentary and with only very short awns. 

 From this description it is easily seen that the 

 species of barley may be distinguished from one 

 another, even at a casual glance, by the number 

 of the rows of the awns, and therefore by the 

 shape of the entire spikes. The striking fea- 

 ture, however, does not exist in the " Nepaul- 

 barley." The awns are replaced by curiously 

 shaped appendices, which are three-lobed. The 

 central lobe is oblong and hollow, and forms a 

 kind of hood, which covers a small supernumer- 

 ary floret. The two lateral lobes are narrower, 

 often linear and extended into a smaller or 

 longer awn. These awns are mostly turned 

 away from the center of the spike. The central 

 lobe may sometimes bear two small florets, but 

 ordinarily only one is to be found, and this is 

 often incomplete, having only one or two 

 stamens, or is different in some other way. 



