Practical
Plants

Hordeum hexastichon

Six-Row Barley

an annual member of the Hordeum genus in the family Gramineae.

No photo available

Taxonomy and growth

Family
Gramineae
Genus
Hordeum
Life cycle
annual
Height
1.2 m
Fertility
Wind
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Wind

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - cooked. The seed can be ground into a flour and used as a cereal in making bread, porridge etc[1][6][5][7]. Malt is obtained by sprouting and roasting the seed. This is a sweet substance and is used in making beer and as a food[6][7]. The roasted (unsprouted) seed is used as a coffee and a salt substitute[7].

Plant part
Seed

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The stems, after the seed has been harvested, have many uses. They are a source of fibres for making paper, a biomass for fuel etc, they can be shredded and used as a mulch[2][4].

Product or use
Biomass
Product or use
Mulch
Product or use
Paper

Environment

Range
Of uncertain origin.
Habitat
Not known in a truly wild situation.
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay
Soil pH
acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - sow in situ in March or October and only just cover the seed. Make sure the soil surface does not dry out if the weather is dry. Germination takes place within 2 weeks.

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Succeeds in most soils and in climates ranging from sub-arctic to sub-tropical[4]. Easily grown in light soils[3]. This species is considered by most botanists to be no more than a part of H. vulgare[8][9].

References

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

    ↩

  2. Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading 1986-00-00 ISBN 0704909820

    ↩

  3. Grounds. R. Ornamental Grasses. Christopher Helm 1989-00-00 ISBN 0-7470-1219-9

    ↩

  4. Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  5. Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975-00-00

    ↩

  6. Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984-00-00 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9

    ↩1↩2

  7. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3

  8. ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964-00-00

    ↩

  9. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

    ↩

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