Heading barley

The barley is starting to look more like barley now that the heads have emerged on some of the stems/tillers. The heads, also referred to as the spike or ear, contain the florets that will eventually become each individual grain of barley. The long hair-like wisps that extend upward from each floret are called awns. The timing of heading, number of florets on each head, and length of the awn can vary significantly between different varieties of barley.