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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GRASS FAMILY | |||||||||
| The grass family is economically
and ecologically important. Many of the world’s crops are products
of the grasses. In addition, grasses are represented in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems and are an important part of the natural food chain. The grasses have a set of structures unique to the family. These plants can be annual or perennial and are usually herbaceous. The roots are fibrous, but rhizomes or runners may be found in some species. The stems are solitary or tufted, and may be branched. The stems are round with hollow internodes and solid nodes. The leaves are basal or on the stem. The stem leaves are 2-ranked, meaning they are in two vertical rows and are sheathing at the base. A ligule is present where the leaf sheath and the blade meet. The florets are in spikelets which are then arranged into clusters called spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets usually have two glumes at the base and may be one to several-flowered. Sometimes there are sterile florets, which may consist only of the palea and lemma, present above or below the fertile florets. The florets are usually perfect, meaning that they have both male and female parts. The lemma and palea are the two bracts that subtend each floret. The lemma may be awnless or awned from the tip or the back. Each fertile floret has between one and three stamens and one superior ovary with a feathery stigma. The fruit type is a caryopsis or grain and is unique to the grass family. |
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| MEADOW BARLEY | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Hordeum brachyantherum ssp. brachyantherum | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Meadow barley grows as tall as 95 cm from fibrous roots. The stems are densely tufted and are erect, even though the bases may be bent. The leaves are flat and wide and are usually hairless. The florets are in greenish to purplish spikes. The glumes are bristle-like and the lemmas are long-awned giving the inflorescence a bushy appearance. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Meadow barley grows in moist creek valleys, prairie depressions, and ditches. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Meadow barley is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY MEADOW BARLEY | |||||||||
| * Are the leaves long, flat, and hairless? * Are the glumes bristle-like? * Are the lemmas long-awned? * Did you find it in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found meadow barley! | |||||||||
