Avena abyssinica
Abyssinian Oat
Taxonomy and growth
Uses
Edible uses
Seed - cooked[4][2]. 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.
- Product or use
- Coffee
- Plant part
- Seed
Material uses
The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching[1]. Some caution is advised in its use as a mulch since oat straw can infest strawberries with stem and bulb eelworm.
- Product or use
- Fibre
- Product or use
- Mulch
- Product or use
- Paper
- Product or use
- Thatching
Environment
- Range
- N. Africa.
- Habitat
- Dry wasteland, cultivated ground and meadows, especially on heavier soils[3].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- moderate
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay, heavy clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerances
- drought
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- tolerant
Propagation
Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
Cultivation
We have very little information on this species, but it should be possible to grow it as a spring-sown annual in Britain, and might also succeed as an autumn-sown crop. A triploid species, it is rarely cultivated for its edible seed[4]. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.3 to 7.6. This species is of potential value in breeding programmes for the cultivated oats (A. sativa), in particular it could pass on pest resistance and drought tolerance. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun[3]. 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
Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.