Barley is the name of several cereal plants of the genus Hordeum, family Gramineae, which yield a grain used in food and for making malt. Barley has been known by man since ancient times and was used by the Egyptians to brew beer. Excellent barley is produced in Britain. The species traditionally cultivated are Hordeum distichum, two-rowed barley; Hordeum'vulgare, four-rowed barley; and Hordeum hexastichum, six-rowed, of which the small variety is the sacred barley of the ancients. The varieties of the four and six rowed species are generally coarser than those of the two-rowed, and adapted for a poorer soil and more exposed situation. Some of these are called bere or bigg. Barley is better adapted for cold climates than any other grain, and some of the coarser varieties are cultivated where no other cereal can be grown. Some species of the genus, three of which are natives of Britain, are mere grasses. Research Barley
Abbreviations
Nature
Research Barley