Mouse Barley

Conservation status:

Native

Description:

Growth form: Annual grass. Flowering. Mar–Apr. Status: Native. Rare. Also recorded: Bahrain, E Saudi Arabia. habitat & distribution: Batanouny recorded this taxon from Umm Slal Mohammed growing in small depressions on calcareous ridges. It may also occur as a weed species in cultivated areas, as it does elsewhere in the Gulf. Uses: Mandaville remarks that it is grazed by livestock when young, but is less palatable when maturing due to the hard, sharp awns. Notes: The form in the Gulf is currently recognised as Hordeum murinum subsp. glaucum (Steud.) Tzvelev.