Hordeum


Hordeum is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. The species are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.

Taxonomy

Species

Species include:
  • Hordeum aegiceras – Mongolia, China including Tibet
  • Hordeum arizonicum US, Mexico
  • Hordeum bogdanii – from Turkey and European Russia to Mongolia
  • Hordeum brachyantherum – Russia, Alaska, Canada including Yukon, US, 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
  • Hordeum capense – South Africa, Lesotho
  • Hordeum chilense – Argentina, Chile
  • Hordeum comosum – Argentina, Chile
  • Hordeum cordobense – northern Argentina
  • Hordeum depressum – US, 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 – California, Baja California
  • Hordeum jubatum – 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 – Europe, North Africa, southwestern and central Asia
  • Hordeum murinum – 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 – 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 – 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.

Etymology

The name Hordeum comes from the Latin word for "to bristle", and is akin to the word "horror".

Distribution

The species are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.

Ecology

Hordeum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the flame, rustic shoulder-knot and setaceous Hebrew character.
Some species have become weeds introduced worldwide by human activities, others have become endangered due to habitat loss.

Uses

One species, H. vulgare, has become of major commercial importance as a cereal grain, used as fodder crop and for malting in the production of beer and whiskey.