Hordeum chilense Roem. & Schult., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  yes

Other Latin names:  Critesion chilense (Roem. & Schult.) Á. Löve

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennial; caespitose. Butt sheaths pubescent; persistent and investing base of culm; with compacted dead sheaths, or fibrous dead sheaths. Culms geniculately ascending; 20-80 cm long. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 0.4-1.8 mm long. Leaf-blades 4-17 cm long; 2-5 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface smooth, or scaberulous; glabrous, or pilose. Inflorescence composed of racemes. Racemes 1; single; linear; bilateral; 4-8 cm long; 4-7 mm wide. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; narrowly winged; flattened; ciliate on margins. Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis. Rhachis internodes oblong; 1.2-2.3 mm long; falling with spikelet above. Spikelets in threes. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 2 in the cluster. Pedicels oblong. Sterile spikelets: Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; containing empty lemmas; lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 10-22 mm long; shorter than fertile; deciduous with the fertile. Companion sterile spikelet glumes subulate. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 1; 1.3-1.7 mm long; muticous. Fertile spikelets: Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; with a barren rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 6.5-11.7 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Glumes collateral; similar; gaping. Lower glume linear; 4.2-7.5 mm long; 1 length of upper glume. Lower glume surface scabrous. Lower glume apex awned; 1 -awned. Lower glume awn 4-18 mm long. Upper glume linear; 4.3-7.5 mm long. Upper glume surface scabrous. Upper glume awned; 1 -awned. Upper glume awn 4-18 mm long. Florets: Fertile lemma lanceolate; 6.5-11.7 mm long; coriaceous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma lateral veins obscure. Lemma surface scabrous; rough above. Lemma apex acuminate; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 4-12.5 mm long overall; limb scabrous. Rhachilla extension 2-7 mm long. Flower: Anthers 3; 1.3-3 mm long. Ovary pubescent on apex. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; sulcate on hilar side; hairy at apex. Hilum linear"  (GrassBase).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Argentina, Chile (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 554)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011) Antofagasta, Bio-Bio, Coquimbo, Magallanes, O'Higgins, Tarapaca, Valparaiso

Additional information:
Additional online information about Hordeum chilense is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Hordeum chilense as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Hordeum chilense may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.