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Plants

Avena sterilis

Sterile 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 m
Fertility
Wind
Flower type
hermaphrodite
Pollinators
Wind

Uses

Edible uses

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

Seed - cooked[5]. 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

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[2]. 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 - Mediterranean.
Habitat
Dry wasteland, cultivated ground and meadows, especially on heavier soils[4][3].
Light
full sun
Shade tolerance
no shade
Water
moderate
Hardiness
Zone 5+
Soil textures
sandy, loamy, clay, heavy clay
Soil pH
very acid, acid, neutral, alkaline, very 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[3]. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 8. Occasionally cultivated for its edible seed, the yields are lower than those of A. sativa[5]. It is probably a parent of the cultivated species of oats[1]. This species could be of value in any breeding programme for the cultivated oats (A. sativa) where it could confer 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. Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975-00-00 ISBN 0-12-136450-x

    ↩

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

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

    ↩1↩2

  4. ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964-00-00

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  5. Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.

    ↩1↩2

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