Mistake? - pearl grain

So i am just starting out in AG and i went to the brew shop to buy some base malts in bulk. I asked for pale and he said he had maris otter and pearl. i said i would take the pearl.

Now doing some research i think that i actually wanted american 2 row, not pale malt. (or is it the same thing?) so also looking on the internet it seems like pearl may not be malted? or at least its not commonly used as a base malt.

Am i wrong? am i just over reacting? what are the differences between this and american 2 row? did i just waste money on 55 lbs of rather useless grain?

thanks

New one on me. I have never heard of "Pearl" malt. Is that the name of the maltster? What does the bag say?

You wanted 2-Row Pale Malt . . . sometimes called 2-row Brewer's Malt. There is also a Pale Ale malt that I have seen with a bit less diastatic power, but it would work well. What you bought is a Munton's product, and it will work well as a base malt. I believe that it is very "English" in style, so use it for all of your British/English/Scottish style ales.

I've never heard of pearl malt either. If it's pearl barley, it definitely isn't what you want, but I can't imagine a brew shop selling that.
American 2 row is pale malt (unless it's described as something else as well).
Maris Otter is a British 2 row pale malt that IMHO gives excellent results

-a.

Just another European 2-row pale:

"Several varieties of barley are used with Maris Otter being the most highly prized, although Halcyon, Optic and the newcomer, Pearl, are also excellent malting barleys." www.brupaks.com

Named varieties seem to be a big seller over there.