Barley

Barley is the bearded grain: nodding pale straw-gold heads fanned with dramatic whisker-like awns that catch the light and the wind alike. It favors the thin, stony ground the softer cereals refuse, and is cut and bound into Barley Sheaf by foragers who know where to look.

The long bristles make a ripe stand impossible to mistake — and impossible to cut carelessly, since the awns catch on everything they touch.