Barley

Parts Usually Used

Grain, germinate seeds (barley sprouts)

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

Barley is an annual plant; its stout, simple stem (culm) is hollow and jointed and grows from 1 1/2 to 3 feet high. The narrow, tapering leaves ascend the stem in 2 ranks, the third leaf over the first; and their bases form loose sheaths around the stem. The flowers grow in bristly-bearded terminal spikes, producing eventually the elliptic, furrowed barley grains. The leaves of barley are broader than many other grasses, but more characteristic still is the “bearded” look of the spikes, this being due to the long awns that grow from them.

A field of ripe barley radiates a pale yellow light.

Where Found

Widely cultivated as a food grain. The major producing states are North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota and California in the United States. In Canada, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba.

Medicinal Properties

Demulcent, digestant, carminative, nutritive

Biochemical Information

Amylase, invertase, dextrin, phospholipid, maltose, glucose, Iron, sulfur, phosphorus, magnesium, niacin, protein, vitamin B1

Legends, Myths and Stories

Used in manufacturing beer, malt beverages. Barley seeds were found in tombs in Asia Minor dating from about 3500 BC. It is believed that barley had it origin in western Asia and was used for food for animals and man; was the chief grain for bread making in Europe until wheat and rye. The earliest settlers to North American brought barley to the continent.

Uses

Historically, cooked pearl barley yielded a mucilaginous preparation that traditional herbalists valued as nutritional support for throat and stomach complaints. Folk practitioners also applied cooked barley externally for sores, fevers, diarrhea, and gout, and administered it as a restorative tonic during convalescence. Barley water was traditionally utilized as a cosmetic wash to cleanse, soften, and freshen normal skin, while drinking the preparation was believed to promote a clear complexion.

In traditional medicine, barley shoots were employed to address food stagnation, poor digestion, weakened stomach function, and loss of appetite.

How Sold

Barley bread can be bought at health food stores and good bakeries. (Although, Culpeper states that barley bread is bad for melancholy people)

Bibliography

Culpeper’s Complete Herbal & English Physician: Updated With 117 Modern Herbs , by Nicholas Culpeper, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, 1990, (reprint of 1814) The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. Chinese Medicinal Herbs , compiled by Shih-Chen Li, Georgetown Press, San Francisco, California, 1973.

Indian Herbalogy of North America , by Alma R. , Horticultural Hall, 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, 1973 The Magic of Herbs , by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print) The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr. David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988.

, Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Nature Doctor: A Manual of Traditional and Complementary Medicine , by Dr. A. , 27 Pine Street (Box 876) New Canaan, CT. 06840-0876. Copyright Verlag A. Vogel, Teufen (AR) Switzerland 1952, 1991 Old Ways Rediscovered , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, published from 1954, print 1988