Wild Oats
Avena fatua
Family: Poaceae or Gramineae
What it is like
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.
Height (m): 1.5
Where it is found
A common weed of arable land and waste ground.
Europe to Asia. Naturalized in Britain.
Conservation Status: Status: Data Deficient.
Countries/locations it is found in
How it is used
Food
Rating: 2
Seed - cooked. 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.
Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.
Coffee: the various substitutes that can be used instead of coffee.
Medicine
Rating: 1
The seeds are diuretic, emollient and refrigerant.
Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.
Emollient: Softens the skin, causing warmth and moisture.
Refrigerant: Cools the body.
Other
Rating: 2
The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching. Some caution is advised in its use as a mulch since oat straw can infest strawberries with stem and bulb eelworm.
Fibre: Used for making cloth, rope, paper etc.
Mulch: Used for covering the ground to conserve the nutrients in the soil.
Paper: Related to the entry for Fibre, these plants have been specifically mentioned for paper making.
Thatching: Used for making thatched roofs.
How it is grown
Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun. Prefers a poor dry soil. Tolerates a pH in the range 4.5 to 6.5. A parent of the cultivated oat, A. sativa 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.
Propagating it: Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
Best place to grow: Cultivated Beds;
Habit: Annual
Hardiness: 0-0
Growth:
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Dry, moist
Things to keep in mind
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.
Its other names
Local names
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.