Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds.

Time of bloom: Late May to June.

Seed-lime: June to July.

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to Arkansas,

Texas, and California. On the Atlantic Coast from Virginia to

Florida. Habitat: Plains; has a preference for saline soil.

Fig. 32. -Wild Barley or Squirrel-tail (Hordeum juba-tum). X 1/4.

Little Barley is not such a dangerous pest as Squirrel-tail-grass, but it makes a similar growth in tufts and crowds out better forage; also, its early bloom causes it to become dry and worthless just when green food is most needed. (Fig. 33.)

Culms six to fifteen inches tall, smooth, erect or decumbent at the base. Sheaths loose, smooth, shorter than the internodes, the upper often enclosing the base of the spike; blades one to three inches long, erect, and rough. Spikes erect, one to three inches in length; spikelets clustered in threes, the central one fertile, the lateral pair abortive; glumes of the fertile spikelet dilated above the base and tapering into a slender awn, rough but not barbed, equaling the awned lemma.

Means Of Control

Early and frequent cutting in order to prevent the development of seed.