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• Avena sativa

Avena sativa — oat

Facts

Oat is the widely-grown cereal, feed and forage crop. It may escape from cultivation, and can be found in fields, roadsides and disturbed soils throughout New England and North America.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  1.7–4.3 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  • the lemma is hard and firm
  • the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  2

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume relative length

  both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume veins

  7 or more

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  60–400 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  1.2–2.7

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  50–150 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  • the awn is attached at the lower half of the lemma (it emerges from near the base of the lemma)
  • the awn is attached at the upper half of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  15–30 mm

  Lemma awn number

  • the lemma has no awn
  • the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma awn orientation

  • the awn of the lemma is straight
  • the awn of the lemma on dried or older plants is curved or bent outwards

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma is hairless or feels just a tiny bit rough at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma keel hairs

  the keel of the lemma is hairless

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma is hairless

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  • the lemma tip has a ragged edge
  • the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lemma vein number

  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Lower glume length

  18–32 mm

  One or more florets

  there is more than one floret per spikelet

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is an extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain

  Spikelet length

  18–50 mm

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume length

  18–32 mm

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Groove on seed

  the caryopsis has a groove running most of its length

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives only a single year or less

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel

  Leaf blade length

  8–45 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  3–25 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  2–8 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  35–180 cm

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Occurs only in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: UPL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae