Avena L.

Oats

Classical Latin name for the Oat, Avena sativa.

Annuals. Leaves flat with membranous ligules. Inflorescence an open panicle. Spikelets large with mostly 2-5 florets, separating above the glumes and often between the florets. Glumes mostly equal and as long as the spikelets or longer, papery with a rough margin and several nerves. Lemma with 2 teeth and 2 fine hairs and usually an awn on the back. The awn is generally twisted at the base with a straight upper part having a single bend in it.

Grown mostly as the commercial oat; a few species are weedy.

Seed.

Commercial oats used for animal feed, porridge, oatmeal, cereals etc. A. sativa subsp. sterilis (L.) de Wet, from north-western Africa, has awns that twist and untwist when moist and are used for fly-fishing.

Characteristic spikelets usually with bent or twisted dorsal awns.

About 27 species from Europe and the Mediterranean to Ethiopia and central Asia. Australia has 7 introduced species.

Baum (1977).

Source: Spencer, R.; Aldous, D.; Stajsic, V.; McGeary, D (2005). Poaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

Hero image
kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Lilianae
order      Poales
family       Poaceae
Higher taxa
Subordinate taxa
species         Avena sativa L.