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Invasive Plants
- Perennial Sow Thistle
- Creeping Thistle
- Oxeye Daisy
- Common Tansy
- Spotted Knapweed
- Narrowleaf Hawksbeard
- Scentless Chamomile
- Leafy Spurge
- Foxtail Barley
- Altai Wild Rye
- Crested Wheat Grass
- Smooth Brome
- Quackgrass
- Reed Canary Grass
- Bird Vetch
- Lucerne
- Sweetclover
- Greater Butter-and-Eggs
- Dalmatica Toadflas
Foxtail Barley
Common name: Foxtail Barley
Scientific name: Hordeum jubatum
Family: Poaceae
Description
Foxtail barley is a perennial tufted plant that is native to North America including Yukon. It has feathery looking awns that many find attractive but can cause physical harm because they are barbed and can work their way into the eyes, nose, gums and throats of animals, both domestic and wild.
Though not technically an invasive plant, it behaves like one. It is particularly aggressive in the dry alkaline soil of southern Yukon where it is problematic to agricultural producers and follows human disturbance.
Range in Yukon
Known throughout the territory south of and including the Porcupine and Peel river drainages.
Similar Species
Foxtail barley commonly hybridizes with slender wild rye (Elymus trachycaulus) producing a sterile but perennial hybrid (x Elyhordeum macounii) that is found throughout the Yukon. The native non-invasive meadow barley (Hordeum brachyantherum) is a rare cousin that can be distinguished by having shorter awns.
Ecological Impact
This plant is potentially invasive especially in the dry alkaline soil of southern Yukon where it is problematic to agricultural producers.
Control
Perennial plants require depletion of nutrient reserves in the root system, prevention of seed production and prevention of dispersal. As foxtail barley is a plant that invades recent disturbances, the most effective control is to reduce disturbance and to allow large areas to revegetate.
Contact Environment Yukon Government of Yukon Box 2703 (V-5N) Bruce Bennett, Wildlife Viewing Biologist Phone: 867-667-5331 Email: bruce.bennett@gov.yk.ca |