Practical
Plants

Avena fatua

Wild Oats

an annual member of the Avena genus in the family Gramineae.

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Taxonomy and growth

Family
Gramineae
Genus
Avena
Life cycle
annual
Height
1.5 m
Fertility
Wind
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Wind

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Seed - cooked[6][9][11][12][13][3]. 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

Medicinal uses

Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The seeds are diuretic, emollient and refrigerant[8].

Product or use
Diuretic
Product or use
Emollient
Product or use
Refrigerant

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching[5]. 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
Europe to Asia. Naturalized in Britain[4].
Habitat
A common weed of arable land and waste ground[1][10].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay, heavy clay
Soil pH
very acid, acid, neutral, alkaline
Drainage
well drained
Tolerances
drought
Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
No
Drought
tolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

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

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun[7]. Prefers a poor dry soil[2]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 6.5. A parent of the cultivated oat, A. sativa[10][5] 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

  1. F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00

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  2. Rice. G. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 2. Thompson and Morgan. 1988-00-00

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  3. Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.

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  4. Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00

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  5. Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00

    ↩1↩2

  6. Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6

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  7. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

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  8. Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986-00-00

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  9. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

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  10. Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.

    ↩1↩2

  11. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974-00-00 ISBN 0094579202

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  12. Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967-00-00 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9

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  13. Saunders. C. F. Edible and Useful Wild Plants of the United States and Canada. Dover Publications 1976-00-00 ISBN 0-486-23310-3

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