How to Find Wild Barley

Wild barley or hare barley is a annual grass. At maturity this plant can reach over 3 feet, or about 1 meter, tall. It has round stems and flat leaves rolled in the bud that are covered in short hair. These leaves can reach about 8 inches, or 20 centimeters, long. While it is used in cereal and bread products, wild barley is also used as a diuretic, arthritis treatment and as an expectorant.

Instructions

1. Explore your local area for places like annual grasslands, oak savannahs, open hillsides, agronomic crop fields, orchards, vineyards, landscaped areas, turf, managed forests, roadsides, unmanaged or disturbed sites and moist sites. These are the areas where wild barley grows.

2. Be careful -- at maturity wild barley has spikelets that have stiff, barbed, needle-like points that can injure you.

3. Check wild barley for the characteristics including height and leave formation. If it is April, May or June check the flowers. Wild barley blooms a bristly, dense spike that is 1 to 3 inches long during these months.

References

• Earth Notes: Barley
• University of California: Agriculture and Natural Resources: Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Hare Barley