[wiki.bugwood.org] Stewardship, Range, Origins: Hordeum leporinum is an introduced, annual grass. In Mediterranean climates, it can be a successful invader where land has been disturbed by grazing or construction. With continued land disturbance in particular climatic conditions (wet winters and dry summers), barley grass can persist and become dominant. The grass is of high forage value early in its growing season, but the seed awn has proven harmful to stock. Control may be possible through mowing, and possibly through application of herbicides, but little research on control has been conducted in the southwestern United States, with no known research in Arizona. The genus Hordeum is thought to have originated in western Asia. Hordeum leporinum is indigenous to the Mediterranean region where it typically occurs in disturbed areas. The species is a valuable forage plant in the southern USSR, Argentina, and in portions of Australia. It is thought to have been introduced to North and South America, and to Australia, by the early nineteenth century.[2][1] In North America, wild barley can be found from Maine and British Columbia to northern Mexico; it is absent in most midwestern states.[3] (contributed by Mary Ann Machi)