THE IDENTIFICATION OF VAEIETIES OF BARLEY. 7 



outermost of the six are so expanded. The expanded outer glume 

 is a rare variation, which may be disregarded from an agricultural 

 standpoint, as no such varieties are cultivated commonly. 



TERMINAL APPENDAGES OF THE LEMMA. 



The lemma of either central or lateral spikelets may terminate in 

 an awn or hood, or it may be merely rounded or pointed at the tip 

 without either awn or hood. The hooded barleys usually are re- 

 ferred to in this country as beardless. Since there are true awnless 

 sorts the term awnless is here used for these rare varieties and the 

 term hooded for all varieties with hoods. The use of the term beard- 

 less, which is easily misunderstood, is thus avoided. The hooded va- 

 rieties all appear to trace their origin to the Nepal barley. In this 

 variety the awn is replaced by a trifurcate appendage, the three lobes 

 of which are a partial duplication of the three florets at a node 

 of the rachis. These monstrous florets often bear fertile stamens and 

 are said sometimes to produce seed. 



In the hooded barleys two minor separations have been made. 

 The normal hood, as in the Nepal barley, is sessile. In many hybrids 

 the hood is elevated more or less on an awn. Variations in the small 

 awns sometimes produced by the hood also have been noted. 



The awns of barley may be either rough or smooth. They are 

 normally very scabrous, being much rougher than those of wheat. 

 In a few potentially valuable agronomic forms the awns are smooth 

 or slightly roughened at the tip. They are, however, entirely smooth 

 toward the base, where the largest teeth are found in the rough- 

 awned varieties. There are also a number of minor forms which 

 bear awns considerably shorter than the normal. In others, the awn 

 is malformed, being flattened or twisted. The difficulty of using 

 either of these latter distinctions in other than an agronomic way is 

 at once apparent, the one being a merging character and the last 

 an abnormality. 



COLOR. 



Four color conditions have been recognized in barley varieties. In 

 the hulled varieties the distinction is based upon pigments located 

 in the lemma and such aleurone and other colors as may show 

 through the more or less translucent lemma. The naked varieties 

 are separated on pigments found in the caryopsis, disregarding en- 

 tirely the character of the lemma. In the hulled varieties the first 

 color division is that in which no pigment is present. This results 

 in a white or yellow barley. The second and third divisions, blue 

 and purple, as previously pointed out (Harlan, 1914, p. 30), prob- 

 ably are related. The blue varieties of hulled barley come from a 

 blue aleurone layer showing through the superimposed lemmas. 



