Barley (Hordeum vulgare)
Barley is the world's fourth most grown cereal (after maize, wheat and rice).
Most barley varieties have hulls that are attached to the grain, but there is also so called hulless barley, which is free threshing (the grains are easily detached from the glumes).
Barley is also classified according to the ear's structure into six row, two row barley and intermedium.
There are both autumns sown winter varieties and spring sown varieties of barley.
Barley has many uses - beer brewing, as pearl barley or barley flour in food, and as animal feed. Different varieties are adapted to the different uses.
The ears of barley mostly have long awns, but the diversity is great and there are varieties with short awns or without awns.
The scientific classification of barley is as complicated as the diversity is big, with several "varietas" and "convarietas" that depend on different traits.
