''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the

grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and ...

. They are native throughout the temperate regions of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

, and the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

), has become of major commercial importance as a

cereal A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

grain, used as fodder crop and for

malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating and drying grain to convert it into malt. The malt is mainly used for brewing or whisky making, but can also be used to make malt vinegar or malt extract. Various grains are used for malting, most ...

in the production of

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

and

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...

. Some species are nuisance weeds introduced worldwide by human activities, others have become endangered due to habitat loss. ''Hordeum'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species, including the flame,

rustic shoulder-knot ''Apamea sordens'', the rustic shoulder-knot or bordered apamea, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is distributed throughout Europe, east across the Palearctic to Central ...

and setaceous Hebrew character. The name ''

Hordeum ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importan ...

'' comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for "to bristle" (''horreō'', ''horrēre''), and is akin to the word "

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

Species

Species include: * ''

Hordeum aegiceras ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importan ...

'' – Mongolia, China including Tibet * ''

Hordeum arizonicum ''Hordeum arizonicum'' is a species of wild barley known by the common name Arizona barley. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, where it grows in wet spots in desert regions, such as irrigation ditches. It can gro ...

'' US (CA AZ NV NM), Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Durango) * ''

Hordeum bogdanii ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importan ...

'' – from Turkey and European Russia to Mongolia * '' Hordeum brachyantherum'' – Russia (Kuril, Kamchatka), Alaska, Canada including Yukon, US (mostly in the West but also scattered locales in the East), Baja California * '' Hordeum brachyatherum'' – Chile * ''

Hordeum brevisubulatum ''Hordeum brevisubulatum'' is a widespread species of wild barley ''Hordeum spontaneum'', commonly known as wild barley or spontaneous barley, is the wild form of the grass in the family Poaceae that gave rise to the cereal barley (''Hordeum ...

'' – European Russia; temperate and subarctic Asia from Turkey and the Urals to China and Magadan * ''

Hordeum bulbosum ''Hordeum bulbosum'', bulbous barley, is a species of barley native to southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and as far east as Afghanistan, with a few naturalized populations in North America, South America and Australia. Since 1970 ...

'' – Mediterranean, Central Asia * '' Hordeum californicum'' – US (CA; OR; NV) * '' Hordeum capense'' – South Africa, Lesotho * '' Hordeum chilense'' – Argentina, Chile (including Juan Fernández Is) * '' Hordeum comosum'' – Argentina, Chile * '' Hordeum cordobense'' – northern Argentina * ''

Hordeum depressum ''Hordeum depressum'' is a species of Hordeum, barley known by the common names low barley and dwarf barley. It is native to the western United States from Idaho to California, where it can be found in moist habitats such as vernal pools. This is ...

'' – US (CA; OR; WA; ID; NV), British Columbia, Baja California * ''

Hordeum distichon ''Hordeum distichon'', the common barley or two-rowed barley, is a cultigen of barley, family Poaceae. It is native to Iraq, and is widely grown throughout temperate regions of the world. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of six-rowed bar ...

'' – Iraq * '' Hordeum erectifolium'' – northern Argentina * ''

Hordeum euclaston ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importanc ...

'' – Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina * '' Hordeum flexuosum'' – Uruguay, Argentina * '' Hordeum fuegianum'' – Tierra del Fuego * '' Hordeum guatemalense'' – Guatemala * '' Hordeum halophilum'' – Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru * ''

Hordeum intercedens ''Hordeum intercedens'' is an diploid, annual species of Hordeum, wild barley known by the common names bobtail barley and vernal barley. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it is an increasingly rare member of ...

'' (bobtail barley) – California, Baja California * '' Hordeum jubatum'' (foxtail barley) – widespread in US and Canada; Asiatic Russia, Inner Mongolia, Central Asia, Caucasus * '' Hordeum × lagunculciforme'' – Iraq, Turkmenistan, Himalayas, western China * ''

Hordeum lechleri ''Hordeum lechleri'' is a species of grass of the order Poales. The plant is found in southern Chile and Argentina, and in the Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlant ...

'' – Argentina, Chile * '' Hordeum marinum'' (sea barley) – Europe, North Africa, southwestern and central Asia * '' Hordeum murinum'' (wall barley) – Canary Islands, Europe, North Africa, southwestern and central Asia * '' Hordeum muticum'' – Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru * ''

Hordeum parodii ''Hordeum parodii'' is a species of barley native to Argentina, where it can be found in inland wetlands, coastal and supratidal lands. ''H. parodii'' is a small annual grass forming petite patches of thin, hairy leaves and erect stems to about 1 ...

'' – Argentina * '' Hordeum patagonicum'' – Argentina, Chile * '' Hordeum × pavisii'' – France * ''

Hordeum procerum ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importanc ...

'' – Argentina * ''

Hordeum pubiflorum ''Hordeum pubiflorum'', also known as Antarctic barley, is a perennial that is native to western and southern South America. Genetics Together with ''Hordeum vulgare'', ''Hordeum pubiflorum'' is the only species from the genus ''Hordeum'' with ...

'' – Argentina, Chile * ''

Hordeum pusillum ''Hordeum pusillum'', also known as little barley, is an annual grass native to most of the United States and southwestern Canada. It arrived via multiple long-distance dispersals of a southern South American species of ''Hordeum'' about one mil ...

'' (little barley) – widespread in Canada and US; northern Mexico, Bermuda, Argentina * '' Hordeum roshevitzii'' – China, Korea, Primorye, Mongolia, Siberia, Kazakhstan * ''

Hordeum secalinum ''Hordeum secalinum'', false rye barley and meadow barley (a name it shares with ''Hordeum brachyantherum''), is a species of wild barley ''Hordeum spontaneum'', commonly known as wild barley or spontaneous barley, is the wild form of the gras ...

'' – Europe, Mediterranean, Caucasus * '' Hordeum spontaneum'' – from Greece and Egypt to central China * ''

Hordeum stenostachys ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importanc ...

'' – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa * ''

Hordeum tetraploidum ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importanc ...

'' – Argentina, Chile * ''

Hordeum vulgare Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

'' (barley) – native to the Middle East, now cultivated in many countries

Formerly included species

Botanists now regard many species as better suited to other genera: ''

Arrhenatherum ''Arrhenatherum'', commonly called oatgrass or button-grass, is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family. Description Wild forms can resemble wild oat (''Avena'') or fescue (''Festuca''). Oatgrasses are very common pere ...

Crithopsis ''Crithopsis'' is a genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, native to the Mediterranean and nearby areas. ;Species The only known species is ''Crithopsis delileana,'' native to Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Crete, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria ...

Dasypyrum ''Dasypyrum'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family, native to the basins of the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian Seas. Species Species include: * '' Dasypyrum hordeaceum'' (Hack.) P.Candargy - Greece, Morocco, Alg ...

, Elymus,

Eremopyrum ''Eremopyrum'' is a genus Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family. One species, '' Eremopyrum triticeum'' has become widely established as a weed in parts of North America. All the species are annuals with a dense, 2-sided, spike ...

Hordelymus ''Hordelymus'' is a genus of European, north African, and southwest Asian plants in the grass family. The only known species is ''Hordelymus europaeus,'' native to Europe (from Sweden + Ireland to Spain, Italy, and Russia) as well as North Afri ...

, Leymus,

Psathyrostachys ''Psathyrostachys'' is a genus of Eurasian plants in the grass family Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos ...

,'' and ''

Taeniatherum ''Taeniatherum'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family known by the common name medusahead. The only recognized species is ''Taeniatherum caput-medusae'' and is native to southern and central Europe (from Portugal ...

''.

References

* * * * * * *

External links

* species of Hordeum in "Wildflowers of Israel"
Spntaneous BarleyBulbous BarleyWall Barley Hordeum marinum

Hordeum hystrixHordeum vulgare
{{Taxonbar, from=Q518044 Poaceae genera