Two-rowed Barley - Hordeum distichon

Grows to 1.2 metres tall, and has similar spikelets to other barleys but usually with long awns (>10 cm).  The common cultivated barley.

Six-rowed Barley (Hordeum vulgare) and other Hordeum, including some rarely recorded alien species, but these have awns that are less than 10cm in length.

Annual. Long awns > 10cm; spikelets in groups of three, the two lateral ones sterile and without awns, or very short awns, unlike Six-rowed Barley where all three florets in a spikelet are fertile and long-awned. 

A detailed image of the flower/seed head and an image of the awns against a ruler (or a comment stating their length).

On fairly light soils and disturbed ground. It is not tolerant of heavy shade.

It is in flower from June to July/August.

Annual.

Widespread but rather scattered records from around Britain.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.