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, H. vulgare (barley), has become of major commercial importance as a cereal grain, used as fodder crop and for malting in the production of beer and whiskey. 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 larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the flame, rustic shoulder-knot and setaceous Hebrew character.
The name Hordeum comes from the Latin word for "to bristle" (horreō, horrēre), and is akin to the word "horror".
Species
Species include:
Hordeum aegiceras – Mongolia, China including Tibet
Hordeum arizonicum US (CA AZ NV NM), Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Durango)
Hordeum bogdanii – 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 – European Russia; temperate and subarctic Asia from Turkey and the Urals to China and Magadan
Hordeum bulbosum – 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 – US (CA; OR; WA; ID; NV), British Columbia, Baja California
Hordeum distichon – Iraq
Hordeum erectifolium – northern Argentina
Hordeum euclaston – Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina
Hordeum flexuosum – Uruguay, Argentina
Hordeum fuegianum – Tierra del Fuego
Hordeum guatemalense – Guatemala
Hordeum halophilum – Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru
Hordeum intercedens (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 – 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 – Argentina
Hordeum patagonicum – Argentina, Chile
Hordeum × pavisii – France
Hordeum procerum – Argentina
Hordeum pubiflorum – Argentina, Chile
Hordeum pusillum (little barley) – widespread in Canada and US; northern Mexico, Bermuda, Argentina
Hordeum roshevitzii – China, Korea, Primorye, Mongolia, Siberia, Kazakhstan
Hordeum secalinum – Europe, Mediterranean, Caucasus
Hordeum spontaneum – from Greece and Egypt to central China
Hordeum stenostachys – Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, South Africa
Hordeum tetraploidum – Argentina, Chile
Hordeum vulgare (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, Crithopsis, Dasypyrum, Elymus, Eremopyrum, Hordelymus, Leymus, Psathyrostachys, and Taeniatherum.
References
External links
species of Hordeum in "Wildflowers of Israel": Spntaneous Barley, Bulbous Barley, Wall Barley, Hordeum marinum,
Hordeum hystrix, Hordeum vulgare
Poaceae genera