The dorsal surface of kernels is smooth, the ventral surface grooved. The period from flowering until barley is ready for harvest may vary from 40 days to as long as 55 days, varying with varieties and climatic conditions. Some 150 varieties of barley are cultivated in the United States, many on a minor scale. Varieties are constantly changing as new ones are devloped and tested while others pass out of cultivation. The type is believed to have come originally from Manchuria.
Plants are tall with open or lax, nodding heads.
They tend to shatter badly in dry climates. These are grown mainly in the upper Mississippi Valley and are extensively used for malting. Coast Group . These varieties trace to North African ancestry and are grown in California and Arizona, also in the Inter-Mountain Region. They are 6-rowed, awned, with large kernels, and short to medium length stems.