WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

Stace 4:

Avena sativa L. - Oat.

Stems to 1(1.5)m; spikelets with 2-3 florets, none with basal scar; longer glume 17-30mm; lowest lemma 12-20(25)mm, usually glabrous, plus 2 apical points <1mm; (2n=42). Archaeophyte-cultivated; locally common crop, frequent on tips and waysides and as grain-alien; throughout British Isles; West Mediterranean.

Key:

• Lemmas bifid, the 2 apical points 0.5-2mm and without veins or with vein(s) not reaching apex
• Rhachilla not disarticulating at maturity, whole spikelets acting as deisseminules, or the florets breaking away irregularly without basal scar; lemmas usually unawned, if awned then awn nearly straight, usually glabrous