Hordeum

Hordeum is a genus of annual and perennial grasses, family Poaceae, order Poales, subfamily Pooideae, tribe Triticeae, native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia and the Americas. The genus comprises more than thirty recognized species along with additional hybrid forms, and includes barley, Hordeum vulgare, one of the world's most commercially important cereal crops. Species show particularly high diversity in the Mediterranean region and Central Asia, and also occur across North America and South America, reaching as far south as Patagonia. The genus name derives from Latin for bristle, referring to the prominent bristle-like awns on its spikelets, and its members range from annual to perennial growth forms of significant ecological and agricultural importance across their native range.