About Hordeum bulbosum L.
Hordeum bulbosum, commonly called bulbous barley, is a barley species. It is native to southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East, with its native range extending east to Afghanistan. Small naturalized populations of this species also exist in North America, South America, and Australia. Since 1970, it has been used for the Hordeum bulbosum Method, also referred to as the Hordeum bulbosum Technique. This method produces doubled haploid (DH) wheat and barley plants by crossing Hordeum bulbosum with T. aestivum or H. vulgare, followed by elimination of H. bulbosum chromosomes from the resulting offspring. These DH plants are valuable for breeding new wheat and barley varieties, as well as for scientific research. H. bulbosum is also being evaluated as a source of genes that can contribute disease resistance and other useful traits for improving barley crops.
