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Native Plant Database

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Hordeum jubatum (Foxtail barley)
Wasowski, Sally and Andy

Hordeum jubatum L.

Foxtail barley

Poaceae (Grass Family)

USDA Symbol: HOJU

USDA Native Status: Native to U.S.

Small and shiny. When in flower, the nodding clusters are purple to pale green, with many long, straight bristles; after flowering, the bristles frizz up, and the flower heads dry to a bleached tan and disintegrate easily.

In parts of the West, this grass is exceedingly common, carpeting roadsides and waste areas. In the presettlement prairies, it was probably one of the colonizers of temporarily bare soil. Beautiful as it is, this grass is unpopular with ranchers because the bristles pierce the mouths of the livestock that graze it.

 

From the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Grass/Grass-like
Root Type: Fibrous
Leaf Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Leaf Venation: Parallel
Inflorescence: Raceme
Fruit Type: Caryopsis
Flower:
Fruit:
Size Class: 1-3 ft.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Green , Purple
Bloom Time: May , Jun , Jul
Bloom Notes: The inflorescence appears whitish-green to light purple.

Distribution

USA: AK , AR , AZ , CA , CO , CT , DC , DE , IA , ID , IL , IN , KS , KY , MA , MD , ME , MI , MN , MO , MT , NC , ND , NE , NH , NJ , NM , NV , NY , OH , OK , OR , PA , RI , SC , SD , TN , TX , UT , VA , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY
Canada: BC , NB , NL , NS , PE
Native Distribution: Throughout the United States, except for the Southeast.
Native Habitat: Waste places, roadsides, meadows, bare soil.
USDA Native Status: L48(N), AK(N), CAN(N), SPM(N)

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is either on display or available from the following:

Sibley Nature Center - Midland, TX

Herbarium Specimen(s)

NPSOT 0333 Collected May 22, 1987 in Bexar County by Harry Cliffe

Bibliography

Bibref 7 - Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California (1993) Hickman, J.C. (ed.)

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Recommended Species Lists

Find native plant species by state. Each list contains commercially available species suitable for gardens and planned landscapes. Once you have selected a collection, you can browse the collection or search within it using the combination search.

View Recommended Species page

Additional resources

USDA: Find Hordeum jubatum in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Hordeum jubatum in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Hordeum jubatum

Metadata

Record Modified: 2011-08-16
Research By: TWC Staff

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