GKASS FAMILY. 393 



1. H. VULGA'RE, L. Spikelets all fertile, awned, the florets arranged 

 so as to form a nearly four- (or somewhat 6-) sided spike. 



COMMON HORDEUM. Barley. Four-rowed Barley. 



Fr. Orge commune. Germ. Gemeine Gerste. Span. Cebada. 



Root annual. Culm 2-3 feet high, smooth. Leaves 6-15 inches long, lance-linear, 

 keeled, striate, smoothish ; sheaths nerved, smooth, auriculate at throat ; ligule very short. 

 Spike about 3 inches long, rather thick and somewhat 4-sided ; rachis compressed, smooth, 

 pubescent on the margin. 



Fields : cultivated. Native of Sicily and Tartary. Fl. May. Fr. June. 



Obs. The ternate spikelets of this species being all fertile, the spike 

 often assumes somewhat of a six-sided appearance ; and I understand 

 that in Western New-York the great Barley region of this country 

 .it is usually called Six-rowed Barley, though that name would seem 

 more properly to belong to another nearly allied species (H. hexastichum, 

 .) if ; indeed, it be really distinct. This and the following species are 

 cultivated extensively in the middle and northern States and almost 

 exclusively for the Breweries. The grain is rarely given to cattle. and 

 Barley bread is unknown in the United States. The plant requires a 

 good soil, and hence serves as a kind of index to the quality of the 

 farms in Pennsylvania : the fallow crop on good land being generally 

 Barley, while the occupants of a poor soil have to be content with a 

 crop of Oats. 



2. H. DIS'TICHUM, L. Lateral spikelets sterile, awnless, the fertile 

 ones awned, distichous or forming a two-sided spike. 



DISTICHOUS HORDEUM. Two-rowed Barley. 



Root annual. Culm 2-3 feet high, smooth. Leaves 6-15 inches long, lance-linear, 

 nerved, scabrous on the upper surface ; sheaths nerved, smooth, with 2 lanceolate, auricu- 

 late appendages at throat ; ligule short, truncate. Spike 3-4 inches long, compressed or 

 ancipital, linear ; rachis flatted, smooth, hirsute on the margin. 



Native of Tartary. Fl. June. Fr. July. 



Obs. This species is something later than the preceding, in coming to 

 maturity ; and on that account is preferred by many farmers in Penn- 

 sylvania, as it interferes less with their Hay crops. It also stands bet- 

 ter than the preceding, after it is ripe, and yields a heavier grain 

 though not a greater quantity. The seed, of both species, is usually 

 sown (in Pennsylvania) about the last of March. 



22. AYE'NA, L. OAT. 



[The classical Latin name.] 



Spikelets 2 - many-flowered in a loose, large and somewhat nodding pani- 

 cle ; the florets herbaceo-chartaceous, of a firmer texture than the glumes, 

 somewhat distant ; the terminal one abortive. Glumes somewhat un- 

 equal, loose and membranaceous. Lower palea convex on the back, 5 - 

 9-nerved, with a bent or twisted awn (proceeding from the middle nerve 



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