As someone who pays close attention to plants, weeding becomes an interesting chore. Instead of just looking for plants that are different than what I am trying to grow, I find it fun to identify all of them (and photograph them!). Talk about making a simple task more complicated!

While weeding a gravel path around some raised beds, I found Little Barley (Hordeum pusillum). This grass is a native species in Illinois and looks similar to cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare). Because it likes to grow in disturbed areas it is not typically a desired grass. It is a spring annual, so by May is well into its flowering season.

Little Barley is a bunchgrass that stays around or under a foot tall. Compared to other grasses of that height, it has much broader leaves. The leaves themselves are rather short, less than about 2 inches long, and stay broad almost to the tip, where they become pointed. It has a very short membranous ligule that can be difficult to see.

When it flowers, Little Barley produces a spike inflorescence, with numerous awned spikelets densely arranged together. It resembles a barley seed head, but smaller and with shorter awns.

Have you seen Little Barley before? Look for it in disturbed areas.