|
Foxtail
Barley
Common
Name(s):
Foxtail Barley
Scientific
Name:
Hordeum
jubatum L.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
HOJU
Description:
Life
Span: Perennial
Origin:Native
Season: Cool
Growth Characteristics:
A
short-lived, perennial bunchgrass without rhizomes, growing 1 to
2 feet tall. It starts growth in late April to May, matures June
to August, and reproduces from seeds and tillers.
Seedhead:Nodding, bristly spike up to four
inches long; readily breaks apart when mature; three spikelets per
rachis node; center spikelet has a single, fertile floret and outside
spikelets are small, empty, pedicelled; glumes and lemmas with rough
awns up to two inches long, thus the bristly appearance.
Leaves: Glabrous or lower sheaths sometimes
pubescent; blades flat, up to 3/8 inches wide and 5 inches long
with raised veins on the upper surface; leaves rolled in the bud;
ligules short, membranous and collar-shaped; auricles absent.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Foxtail
barley is found mainly at low to mid elevations, but can sometimes
grow up to the subalpine zone. It is native on saline and alkaline
meadows. It is one of the few native grasses that can become weedy.
Foxtail barley is most often found as a dense band of vegetation
in disturbed areas where ephemeral water accumulates, such as near
stock water or in reservoir drawdown areas. It also grows at the
edges of trampled springs and seeps and in overgrazed pastures.
Foxtail barley is usually found on sites that are moist or flooded
in spring, with the surface drying by mid summer with the water
table remaining in the upper meter of the soil profile. It can also
grow on sites that periodically receive extra moisture such as roadsides
and irrigated pastures.
Soils: Foxtail barley grows on a variety
of soil types, but is most abundant on poorly drained, wet soils,
where textures vary from sandy loams to silty clay loams. It is
tolerant of salts and alkali.
Associated Species:
Wirerush,
redtop, Kentucky
bluegrass, arrowgrass, saltgrass,
and Basin wildrye.
Uses and
Management:
Foxtail
barley is low in production and nutritional value, but from spring
until the seedhead forms, it is highly palatable to cattle, mule
deer, and elk, and moderately palatable to sheep. The mature, dry,
stiff seedheads break apart at the nodes, forming sharp pointed
joints with long sharp awns which can stick into the nose and mouth
of grazers, penetrating the skin. There they can cause infection
and sores, often causing "lump jaw" in cattle. Seedheads
can also become embedded in the fleece of sheep, dramatically reducing
the commercial value of the wool.
Control of foxtail involves efficient irrigation management and
grazing management that keeps the preferred species strongly competitive.
Avoid letting water stand in low places so long that it drowns out
the desirable grass and legume species. Infested pastures should
be plowed and reseeded.
|
