Barley inflorescence

Each branch terminates in an inflorescence which is a dense capitulum of florets (individual tubular corollas), commonly called a flower. Each floret flower protrudes from a conical head surrounded by layers of bracts. The leaves, which develop along the stalk and branches, and the outer layers of bracts usually are spiny, although the types of safflower grown for the production of dye or food coloring are spineless, or nearly so. The seeds of the safflower plant develop within the head in a concentric pattern and are oblate with a flattened top, usually white, and about the size of a barley kernel (Figure 1) (20). 

The inflorescence of cereals could be a spike (wheat, barley, rye, and triticale), a panicle (rice, sorghum, oats, and all millets) or, in the specific case of maize, a central axis. Maize, rye, sorghum and pearl millet cross-pollinate, whereas wheat, oats, barley, and rice self-pollinate. 

FIGURE 1.4 (Continued) Pictures of inflorescences of cereal grains (c) wheat (d) barley. 

Spike Cereal inflorescence consisting of a flower cluster in which the developing kernels are attached to the unique central rachis or axis. Wheat, barley, rye, and triticale produce their kernels in a spike. 

O. were probably first distributed as a weed mixture with barley. It was believed to have been first cultivated by ancient Slavonic peoples during the Iron and Bronze Ages. O. are best adapted to cooler, more temperate regions with annual precipitation of more than 700 mm. The inflorescence is a panicle, as in other ->cereals (- rice). O. have only limited winterhardiness in special selected varieties that are grown in moderate winter climates in the Mediterranean countries, such as Greece or Turkey. Often, o. are fed whole to horses and sheep this used to be the most important application of o. before mechanical power moved into agriculture. 

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