Hordeum brachyantherum subsp. californicum

California barley, California Barley

Family: Poaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California barley is a native perennial grass found throughout California (excluding the desert) in meadows, pastures, and streambank habitats at elevations below 3,400 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces delicate grass inflorescences with slender, spreading seed clusters. Growing 20 to 65 centimeters tall with thin, graceful stems, it features densely hairy leaf sheaths and narrow blades. Its leaves are distinctively hairy, typically less than 11.5 centimeters long and rarely wider than 3.5 millimeters, with a mix of short and long hairs covering the blade surface. The seed heads have elongated awns up to 7.5 millimeters long, giving the plant a soft, feathery appearance.

Habitat: Meadows, pastures, streambanks

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: < 3400 m

Bioregions: CA (exc D).

California counties: Mendocino, San Luis Obispo, San Bernardino, Lake, Riverside, Santa Barbara, Solano, Ventura, Tulare, San Diego, Stanislaus, Marin, Monterey, Fresno, Los Angeles, Nevada, Mono, Orange, Tehama, Humboldt, Mariposa, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, San Mateo, Sonoma, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Santa Cruz, Colusa, Kings, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Glenn, Siskiyou, Sacramento, Alameda, Madera, Calaveras, Alpine, Modoc, Placer, Yolo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.