''Hordeum intercedens'' is an diploid, annual species of wild barley known by the common names bobtail barley and vernal barley. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it is an increasingly rare member of the flora in

saline Saline may refer to: * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially US) for a salt works or saltern Places * Saline, Calvados, a commune in ...

and

alkaline soils Alkali, or Alkaline, soils are clay soils with high pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable physico- ...

near seasonal waterflows and vernal pool habitats. Today most occurrences are located on the Channel Islands of California; many of the occurrences known from the mainland have been extirpated in the process of land development.California Native Plant Society Rare Plant Profile
/ref> This is an annual grass growing erect to bent in small tufts with stems up to 40 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a green spike up to 6.5 centimeters long made up of awned spikelets between 1 and 2 centimeters long. ''Hordeum intercedens'' originated via long-distance dispersal of a southern South American ''

Hordeum ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importan ...

'' species to North America less than 1 million years ago. Its closest relatives are therefore not the other North American taxa like meadow barley or

foxtail barley ''Hordeum jubatum'', with common names foxtail barley, bobtail barley, squirreltail barley, and intermediate barley, is a perennial plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeast ...

but the annual ''

Hordeum euclaston ''Hordeum'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas. One species, ''Hordeum vulgare'' (barley), has become of major commercial importanc ...

'' occurring in Central and western Argentina and Uruguay. It is also only distantly related to the crop barley, from which the lineage leading to ''H. intercedens'' diverged about 12 million years ago. ''H. intercedens'' is one of the parental species of ''

Hordeum depressum ''Hordeum depressum'' is a species of Hordeum, barley known by the common names low barley and dwarf barley. It is native to the western United States from Idaho to California, where it can be found in moist habitats such as vernal pools. This is ...

''.

Literature

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References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment

USDA Plants Profile

Grass Manual Treatment

Photo gallery
intercedens Flora of Baja California Flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Pooideae-stub