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Avena fatua

(Common Wild Oats)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Arabic:

Khâfûr, Shûfân, Zummayr

Common Names in Chinese:

Ye Yan Mai

Common Names in Danish:

Flyvehavre

Common Names in Dutch:

Oot

Common Names in English:

Common Wild Oats, Common Wild Oat, Flaxgrass, Oatgrass, Spring Wild Oat, Wheat Oats, Wild Oat, Wild Oats

Common Names in Finnish:

Hukkakaura

Common Names in French:

Avoine Folle, Avoine Sauvage, Folle Avoine

Common Names in German:

Flughafer, Windhafer

Common Names in Greek:

Agriovromi, Vromi I Astatos

Common Names in Italian:

Avena Selvatica

Common Names in Japanese:

Chahiki Gusa, karasu Mugi

Common Names in Norwegian:

Floghavre

Common Names in Portuguese:

Aveia-Brava, Aveia-Fátua, Aveia-Selvagem

Common Names in Russian:

Oves Pustoj, ovsjug, Ovsjug Obyknovennyi

Common Names in Spanish:

Avena Loca, Avena Silvestre

Common Names in Swedish:

Flyghavre, Vildhavre

Common Names in Turkish:

Yabani Yulaf

Description

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Genus Avena

Annuals . Culms erect , fairly robust . Leaf blades linear , flat; ligule membranous. Inflorescence a large loose panicle. Spikelets large, pendulous, oblong to gaping , florets 2 to several, the uppermost reduced; rachilla pilose or glabrous , disarticulating below each floret or only below the lowest, or not disarticulating (cultivated species) ; glumes lanceolate to elliptic , usually subequal and as long as spikelet, rarely strongly unequal or shorter than spikelet, herbaceous to membranous, 7-11-veined, back rounded , smooth , apex acuminate; floret callus acute to pungent , bearded ; lemmas lanceolate-oblong, usually leathery, occasionally papery , back rounded, 5-9-veined, glabrous to hispid , awned usually from near middle of back, apex papery, 2-toothed to 2-fid, lobes sometimes extended into fine bristles , awn geniculate with twisted column, sometimes reduced or absent (cultivated species) ; palea usually shorter than lemma, keels ciliate . Ovary densely hairy . Caryopsis with long linear hilum.

About 25 species: centered on the Mediterranean region and SW Asia, extending to N Europe and N Asia, widely introduced to other temperate and cold regions; five species (all introduced) in China.

Avena includes several species cultivated as cereal crops (oats) and is also used for fodder and fiber production . A few species have become widespread as weeds of crops in temperate regions .[1]

Physical Description

Species Avena fatua

Annual . Culms erect or geniculate at base , 50-150 cm tall, unbranched, 2-4-noded. Leaf sheaths glabrous or basal sheaths puberulous ; leaf blades 10-30 cm, 4-12 mm wide, scabrid or adaxial surface and margins pilose ; ligule 1-5 mm. Panicle narrowly to broadly pyramidal , 10-40 cm, nodding ; branches scabrid. Spikelets 1.7-2.5 cm, florets 2 or 3, all florets awned; rachilla easily disarticulating below each floret at maturity, each floret with a bearded callus, internodes hirsute or glabrous; glumes lanceolate, subequal , herbaceous, 9-11-veined, apex finely acute; callus hairs up to 4 mm; lemmas 1.5-2 cm, leathery, glabrous to densely hispid in lower half, green and scaberulous above, awned from near middle , apex shortly 2-4-toothed; awn 2-4 cm, geniculate, column twisted, blackish brown. Fl. and fr. Apr-Sep. 2n = 42. [source]

Flowers: Bloom Period: April, May, June. • Flower Color: inconspicuous, none

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 18-24" tall.

Habitat

Weed of cultivated fields , grassy mountain slopes , roadsides and other disturbed places; below 4300 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,653 meters (0 to 15,266 feet).[3]

Biology

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Growth

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Avena fatua var. glabrata Peterm. • Avena fatua var. vilis (Wallr.) Hausskn.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Avena

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 26 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. abyssinica (Abyssinian Oat) · A. arvensis (Field Brome) · A. barbata (Slender Oat) · A. barbata barbata (Slender Oat) · A. fatua (Common Wild Oats) · A. fatua sativa (Oatgrass (Common)) · A. ludoviciana (Winter Wild Oat) · A. maroccana (Moraccan Oat) · A. meridionalis (Hybrid Oat) · A. nuda (Naked Oat) · A. occidentalis (Western Oat) · A. orientalis (Tartarian Oats) · A. pratensis (Meadow Oatgrass) · A. sativa (Cat Grass) · A. sativa nuda (Small Naked Oat) · A. sativa sativa (Oatgrass (Common)) · A. sativa sativa var. contracta (Tree Oat) · A. sativa sterilis (Animated Oat) · A. sativa 'French Black' (Black Ornamental Oats) · A. sativa 'Rodeo' (Cat Grass) · A. spicata (Poverty Oatgrass (Canada)) · A. sterilis (Animated Oat) · A. sterilis ludoviciana (Animated Oat) · A. sterilis sterilis (Animated Oat) · A. sterilis subsp. ludoviciana (Animated Oat) · A. strigosa (Lop-Side Oat)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Zhen-lan Wu & Sylvia M. Phillips "Avena". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 316, 323. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Avena fatua". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 323, 324. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 196.120 meters (643.438 feet), Standard Deviation = 322.020 based on 10,676 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012