Hordeum pusillum

Hordeum pusillum, little barley, was found in limited amounts in six of the 13 features. This species is an invader on pastures of low vigor or fertility and is also found along roadsides and waste places. Prehistorically, little barley would have occupied comparable areas of disturbance, such as naturally eroded localities and infertile soils, and places disturbed by human occupation. It is a native, cool-season, tufted, annual grass with a shallow fibrous root system that reproduces by seeds which germinates in the fall given adequate moisture. Seed that germinates in the fall stays green through the winter and matures in the spring before competition from warm-season grasses increases. The maturity range may extend from April to June (Steyermark 1963). As with maygrass, this grass may have been an important source of grain during a time when storable plant resources were limited; Zawacki and Hausfater (1969:59) mention late spring as a “starvation season” when natural plant and animal resources are low in quantity and of poor quality. Even during a dry spring this plant would have been a reliable food source; mature seed has been observed in plants only 3 inches tall due to extreme drouth (Phillips Petroleum Company 1963:44).