Little barley facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Little barley
Growing in a disturbed area
Scientific classification
Genus:	Hordeum
Species:	pusillum

Little barley (Hordeum pusillum) is a type of grass that grows every year. It is originally from most parts of the United States. This plant came to North America from South America about one million years ago. Its seeds traveled a long way to get here.

Its closest plant relatives are actually found in the pampas grasslands of central Argentina and Uruguay. It is not as closely related to the barley we eat today, which comes from the Old World. They separated about 12 million years ago. Little barley is a diploid plant, meaning it has two sets of chromosomes in its cells.

What is Little Barley Used For?

The tiny seeds of little barley can be eaten. This plant was an important part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex. This was a group of cultivated plants used by Native Americans before Christopher Columbus arrived.

Before maize (corn) farming became popular, little barley might have been domesticated. This means people grew and cared for it on purpose. Today, you can find little barley growing in grasslands and the Sonoran Desert. It also grows at the edges of marshes and along roadsides.