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• True grasses
• Avena strigosa

Avena strigosa — lopsided oat

Facts

The cultivation of lopsided oat in Europe, where it was formerly grown in marginal environments in place of oat (Avena sativa) has all but ended, although it is widely grown in Brazil as a cover and forage crop. In North America, this species has been collected in California and Massachusetts, but is not a common weed.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  2.5–4 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

  80–300 mm

  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

  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

  3–35 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma cross-section

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

  Lemma keel hairs

  the keel of the lemma is rough, or has fine hairs

  Lemma surface

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

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lemma vein number

  • 5
  • 7 or more

  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 length

  14–26 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives only a single year or less

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  Up to 10 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  2–5 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)

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae