Hordeum vulgare subsp. distichon (L.) Körn.
two-rowed barley
Tufts 35-100 cm. Culm 30-90 cm. Racemes 4.5-12 × 0.6-1.5-(2.5) cm, dense-flowered, distichous, with 2 rows of sessile ⚥ spikelets, each spikelet flanked by 2 Ø lateral spikelets in which the florets are shortly pedicelled. Lemma of lateral spikelets 5.5-8 mm, elliptic or linear-oblong, obtuse, abaxially smooth, adaxially with a few long, soft hairs along the central nerve, awnless. Rachilla prolongation 2 mm, glabrous. Lemma of central spikelets 8-12.5 mm; awn 10-17 cm. Rachilla prolongation 4 mm, long hairy. Caryopsis 8-11.5 × 2-3 mm.
N.: near Auckland City, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Mt Egmont and near Wanganui; S.: occasional in Nelson, Canterbury, Otago and Southland. An escape from cultivation onto roadsides and waste land.
Cultigen.
