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Avena fatua - L.

Common Name Wild Oats
Family Poaceae or Gramineae
USDA hardiness Coming soon
Known Hazards None known
Habitats A common weed of arable land and waste ground[1, 57].
Range Europe to Asia. Naturalized in Britain[17].
Edibility Rating    (2 of 5)
Other Uses    (2 of 5)
Weed Potential Yes
Medicinal Rating    (1 of 5)
Care (info)
Well drained soil Moist Soil Full sun
Avena fatua Wild Oats


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Avena fatua Wild Oats

 

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Summary


Physical Characteristics

 icon of manicon of flower
Avena fatua is a ANNUAL growing to 1.5 m (5ft).
It is not frost tender. It is in flower from June to July, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The species is hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and is pollinated by Wind.
Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid soils.
It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

UK Hardiness Map US Hardiness Map

Synonyms

Habitats

 Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Seed
Edible Uses: Coffee

Seed - cooked[2, 46, 61, 85, 95, 161]. The seed ripens in the latter half of summer and, when harvested and dried, can store for several years. It has a floury texture and a mild, somewhat creamy flavour. It can be used as a staple food crop in either savoury or sweet dishes. The seed can be cooked whole, though it is more commonly ground into a flour and used as a cereal in all the ways that oats are used, especially as a porridge but also to make biscuits, sourdough bread etc. The seed can also be sprouted and eaten raw or cooked in salads, stews etc. The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.

References   More on Edible Uses

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.
Diuretic  Emollient  Refrigerant

The seeds are diuretic, emollient and refrigerant[240].

References   More on Medicinal Uses

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Other Uses

Fibre  Mulch  Paper  Thatching

The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching[171]. Some caution is advised in its use as a mulch since oat straw can infest strawberries with stem and bulb eelworm.

Special Uses

References   More on Other Uses

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun[200]. Prefers a poor dry soil[134]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 6.5. A parent of the cultivated oat, A. sativa[57, 171] but the seeds are somewhat smaller and yields lower. This species could be of importance in breeding programmes for the cultivated oats (A. sativa), where it could confer drought tolerance, disease resistance and higher yields. Oats are in general easily grown plants but, especially when grown on a small scale, the seed is often completely eaten out by birds. Some sort of netting seems to be the best answer on a garden scale.

References   Carbon Farming Information and Carbon Sequestration Information

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Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.

Other Names

If available other names are mentioned here

Common wild oat, flaxgrass, oatgrass, wheat oats, wild oats. Spanish: avena loca; avena silvestre; avena silvestre comun; ballueca. French: folle avoine. Portuguese: balanco. Brazil: aveia-brava; aveia-fatua. Germany: Flug-Hafer; Wind-Hafer. Italy: avena matta; avena selvatica. Japan: chahiki; karasumugi. Netherlands: oot; wilde haver. Poland: owies gluchy. Sweden: fyghavre. Turkey: yabani yulaf.

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Found In

Countries where the plant has been found are listed here if the information is available

Weed Potential

Right plant wrong place. We are currently updating this section. Please note that a plant may be invasive in one area but may not in your area so it’s worth checking.

This plant can be weedy or invasive. This and other wild oats can become troublesome in prairie agriculture when it invades and lowers the quality of a field crop, or competes for resources with the crop plants. It takes very few wild oat plants to cause a significant reduction in the yield of a wheat or cultivated oat field, even though the seeds are a type of oat.

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants Status : Status: Data Deficient.

Related Plants
Latin NameCommon NameHabitHeightHardinessGrowthSoilShadeMoistureEdibleMedicinalOther
Avena abyssinicaAbyssinian OatAnnual0.0 -  LMHNDM202
Avena barbataSlender OatAnnual0.0 4-8 FLMNDM202
Avena brevis Annual0.0 -  LMHNDM202
Avena byzantinaRed OatAnnual0.0 -  LMHNDM202
Avena ludovicianaOatsAnnual0.0 -  LMHNDM202
Avena nudaNaked OatAnnual0.9 -  LMHNDM402
Avena nudibrevis Annual0.0 -  LMHNDM202
Avena orientalisHungarian OatAnnual0.0 -  LMHNDM312
Avena sativaOats, Common oatAnnual0.9 0-0  LMHNDM334
Avena sterilisSterile Oats, Animated oatAnnual1.0 0-0  MHNDM302
Avena strigosaBristle Oats, Black oatsAnnual0.9 0-0  LMHNDM202
Avena wiestii Annual0.0 -  LMHNDM202

Growth: S = slow M = medium F = fast. Soil: L = light (sandy) M = medium H = heavy (clay). pH: A = acid N = neutral B = basic (alkaline). Shade: F = full shade S = semi-shade N = no shade. Moisture: D = dry M = Moist We = wet Wa = water.

 

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Expert comment

Author

L.

Botanical References

17

Links / References

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Readers comment

Agnieszka   Mon Aug 2 06:58:37 2004

I don't agree that wild oat is pollinated by wind! This species is highly self-pollinated

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