Hordeum distichon

Slender, tufted annual to 1 m high. Leaves glabrous; blade commonly finely scabrous, to 30 cm long, 4–15 mm wide; sheath smooth; ligule papery, truncate, 1–2 mm long, often oblique; auricles usually developed, falcate, encircling the culm. Inflorescence 4–12 cm long (excluding awns), 6-ranked, but only 2 central opposite ranks maturing seed. Spikelets 8–15 mm long (excluding awns); glumes 10–16 mm long including the 3–7 mm awn, silky-hairy in the lower part; lemma dorsally flattened, at least that of the central spikelet in each triad with flattened, scabrous awns 5–18 cm long; palea adhering to grain, slightly shorter than body of lemma. Flowers mainly Aug.–Oct.