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Summary
Physical Characteristics
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
Temperature Converter
Type a value in the Celsius field to convert the value to Fahrenheit:
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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.
Native Plant Search
Search over 900 plants ideal for food forests and permaculture gardens. Filter to search native plants to your area. The plants selected are the plants in our book 'Plants For Your Food Forest: 500 Plants for Temperate Food Forests and Permaculture Gardens, as well as plants chosen for our forthcoming related books for Tropical/Hot Wet Climates and Mediterranean/Hot Dry Climates. Native Plant Search
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.
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.
Expert comment
Author
L.
Botanical References
17
Links / References
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Readers comment
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