Common Barley
Hordeum vulgare
—
Not native
Not native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 1–4 feet
- Spread
- 6 inches–1 foot
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- Spring
- Fruiting season
- Spring to summer
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 1 Arkansas county.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
14CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Hordeum
- Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
- Agrotis venerabilisVenerable Dart, Dusky Cut-Worm
- Apamea sordensBordered Apamea, Rustic Shoulder-Knot
- Dargida diffusaWheat Head Armywotm Moth
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Fissicrambus mutabilisStriped Webworm, Striped Sodworm, Changeable Grass-Veneer
- Maliattha synochitisBlack-Dotted Lithacodia, Black-Dotted Glyph, Brass-Dotted Grass Moth
- Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
- Nephelodes miniansBronzed Cutworm
Show all 14
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
18BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Hordeum
- Anser albifronsGreater White-fronted Goose
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Aythya americanaRedhead
- Calcarius lapponicusLapland Longspur
- Calcarius pictusSmith's Longspur
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Columba liviaRock Pigeon
- Corvus coraxCommon Raven
- Mareca americanaAmerican Wigeon
Show all 18
- Passerculus sandwichensisSavannah Sparrow
- Perdix perdixGray Partridge
- Phasianus colchicusRing-necked Pheasant
- Plectrophenax nivalisSnow Bunting
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
- Xanthocephalus xanthocephalusYellow-headed Blackbird
- Zenaida asiaticaWhite-winged Dove
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Poaceae
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Inconspicuous
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth habit
- Grows in clumps
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Spring
- Fruit ends
- Summer
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Inconspicuous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Spring” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Grows in clumps” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Rapid” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “1–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6 inches–1 foot” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Barley
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AR status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications