BRITISH CEREALS. 33 



were recognisable, Hordeum hexastichon, round also in the oldest 

 Egyptian monuments, not known wild and now cultivated only 

 in Southern Europe, and //. distichon, which is derivable from 

 H. spontaneum, now found native within the area enclosed by 

 the Red Sea, the Caucasus, and the Caspian, the only differences 

 being the non-articulate axis and the shorter awns. Four-rowed 

 Barley, otherwise Bigg or Bere, H. vulgar e (or, perhaps more 

 frequently H. sativum vulgar e), seems to be a further development 

 of H. distichon, and comparatively recent, though prehistoric. 

 One of its varieties, ripening within three months of its sowing, 

 H. pallidum, is confined to the north of Europe and Asia ; another, 

 H. c&rulescens, to Southern Europe and Northern Africa ; and 

 another group of its varieties is formed of the naked barleys of 

 the Himalaya. 



The following table gives the main distinctions : 



All spikelets fertile. Lateral grains twisted. 



Lateral spikelets in four straight rows. H. hexastichon 

 (Six-rowed Barley). 



Lateral spikelets in two irregular overlapping rows. H. vul- 

 gar e (Four-rowed Barley). 



Grain adherent. Common Barley. 

 Spikes pale yellow. H. pallidum 

 Spikes grey. H. ccerulescens . 

 Grain free. 



Awn simple. H. ccelesle (Siberian or Naked Barley). 

 Awn three-pronged. H. trifiircatum (Nepal or 

 Himalayan Barley). 



Lateral spikelets barren. None of the grains twisted 

 H. distichon (Two-rowed Barley). 



Awns long and divergent. H. zeocviton (Fan, Battledore, or 



Peacock Barley). 

 Awns not divergent. 



Grain bare. H. nudum. 



Glumes of middle spikelet very narrow. H, deficiens. 



Glumes of middle spikelet very broad. H. macrolepis. 



