Oats | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Common wild oat ( Avena fatua ) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Pooideae |
Supertribe: | Poodae |
Tribe: | Poeae |
Subtribe: | Aveninae |
Genus: | Avena L. 1753 not Scop. 1777 nor Thell. 1911 [1] [2] |
Type species | |
Avena sativa | |
Synonyms [4] | |
|
Avena is a genus of Eurasian and African plants [5] in the grass family. Collectively known as the oats, they include some species which have been cultivated for thousands of years as a food source for humans and livestock. [6] They are widespread throughout Europe, Asia and northwest Africa. Several species have become naturalized in many parts of the world, and are regarded as invasive weeds where they compete with crop production. All oats have edible seeds, though they are small and hard to harvest in most species. [7] [8]
Avena species, including cultivated oats, are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including rustic shoulder-knot and setaceous Hebrew character.
For diseases of oats, see List of oat diseases.
One species is of major commercial importance as a cereal grain. Four other species are grown as crops of minor or regional importance. [4] [9]
Several species of Avena occur in the wild, sometimes as weeds in agricultural fields. They are known as wild oats or oat-grasses. Those growing alongside cultivated oats in agricultural fields are considered nuisance weeds, as, being grasses like the crop, they are difficult to remove chemically; any standard herbicide that would kill them would also damage the crop. A specific herbicide must be used. The costs of this herbicide and the length of time it must be used to reduce the weed are significant, with seeds able to lie dormant for up to 10 years. [4] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Hundreds of taxa have been included in Avena at one time in the past but are now considered better suited to other genera: [4] Agrostis , Aira , Ampelodesmos , Anisopogon , Arrhenatherum , Avenula , Bromus , Calamagrostis , Capeochloa , Centropodia , Corynephorus , Danthonia , Danthoniastrum , Deschampsia , Festuca , Gaudinia , Helictochloa , Helictotrichon , Hierochloe , Lachnagrostis , Lolium , Parapholis , Pentameris , Periballia , Peyritschia , Rytidosperma , Schizachne , Sphenopholis , Stipa , Stipagrostis , Tenaxia , Tricholemma , Triraphis , Trisetaria , Trisetum , Tristachya and Ventenata .
"Sowing wild oats" is a phrase used since at least the 16th century; it appears in a 1542 tract by Thomas Beccon, a Protestant clergyman from Norfolk. Apparently, a similar expression was used in Roman Republican times[ clarification needed ], possibly by Plautus. The origin of the expression is the fact that wild oats, notably A. fatua, are a major weed in oat farming. Among European cereal grains, oats are hardest to tell apart from their weedy relatives, which look almost alike but yield little grain. The life cycle of A. fatua is nearly synchronous with that of common oat, and their relationship is an example of Vavilovian mimicry. Historically, growers could control the weed only by checking the crop plants one by one and hand-weeding. Consequently, "sowing wild oats" became a phrase to describe unprofitable activities. Given the reputation of oat grain to have invigorating properties and the obvious connection between plant seeds and human "seed", it is not surprising that the meaning of the phrase became a reference to the liaisons of an unmarried young male, which result in unwanted children born out of wedlock. [15]
Finger millet is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine africana.
The oat, sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name. Oats are used for human consumption as oatmeal, including as steel cut oats or rolled oats. They appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop as their seeds resembled those of other cereals closely enough for them to be included by early cultivators. Oats are a nutrient-rich food associated with lower blood cholesterol and reduced risk of human heart disease when consumed regularly. One of the most common uses of oats is as livestock feed; the crop can also be grown as groundcover and ploughed in as a green manure.
Sorghum or broomcorn is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Sorghum bicolor is grown as a cereals for human consumption and as animal fodder.
Arrhenatherum, commonly called oatgrass or button-grass, is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the grass family.
Bromus is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species.
Lolium is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera.
Avena sterilis is a species of grass weed whose seeds are edible. Many common names of this plant refer to the movement of its panicle in the wind.
In plant biology, Vavilovian mimicry is a form of mimicry in plants where a weed evolves to share one or more characteristics with a domesticated plant through generations of artificial selection. It is named after Nikolai Vavilov, a prominent Russian plant geneticist. Selection against the weed may occur by killing a young or adult weed, separating its seeds from those of the crop (winnowing), or both. This has been done manually since Neolithic times, and in more recent years by agricultural machinery.
Wild Oats or wild oat may refer to:
Avena fatua is a species of grass in the oat genus. It is known as the common wild oat. This oat is native to Eurasia but it has been introduced to most of the other temperate regions of the world. It is naturalized in some areas and considered a noxious weed in others.
Pendimethalin is an herbicide of the dinitroaniline class used in premergence and postemergence applications to control annual grasses and certain broadleaf weeds. It inhibits cell division and cell elongation. Pendimethalin is listed in the K1-group according to the Herbicide Resistance Action Committee (HRAC) classification and is approved in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania for different crops including cereals, corn, soybeans, rice, potato, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts as well as lawns and ornamental plants.
A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or livestock. Most noxious weeds have been introduced into an ecosystem by ignorance, mismanagement, or accident. Some noxious weeds are native. Typically they are plants that grow aggressively, multiply quickly without natural controls, and display adverse effects through contact or ingestion. Noxious weeds are a large problem in many parts of the world, greatly affecting areas of agriculture, forest management, nature reserves, parks and other open space.
Avena strigosa is a species of grass native to Europe. It has edible seeds and is often cultivated as animal feed in southern Brazil. It is sometimes reported as a weed.
Avena nuda is a species of grass with edible seeds in the oat genus Avena.
Avena brevis, the short oat, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae whose seeds are edible.
Avena abyssinica, also known as the Ethiopian oat and "Ajja" by Ethiopians, is a member of the family Poaceae. This grain has long been used in Ethiopia and is well adapted to the high elevations and other conditions there. Still a traditional food plant in Africa, this little-known grain has potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable landcare.
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals. Plants with characteristics that make them hazardous, aesthetically unappealing, difficult to control in managed environments, or otherwise unwanted in farm land, orchards, gardens, lawns, parks, recreational spaces, residential and industrial areas, may all be considered weeds. The concept of weeds is particularly significant in agriculture, where the presence of weeds in fields used to grow crops may cause major losses in yields. Invasive species, plants introduced to an environment where their presence negatively impacts the overall functioning and biodiversity of the ecosystem, may also sometimes be considered weeds.
Pre-harvest crop desiccation refers to the application of an agent to a crop just before harvest to kill the leaves and/or plants so that the crop dries out from environmental conditions, or "dry-down", more quickly and evenly. In agriculture, the term desiccant is applied to an agent that promotes dry down, thus the agents used are not chemical desiccants, rather they are herbicides and/or defoliants used to artificially accelerate the drying of plant tissues. Desiccation of crops through the use of herbicides is practiced worldwide on a variety of food and non-food crops.
Butafenacil is the ISO common name for an organic compound of the pyrimidinedione chemical class used as an herbicide. It acts by inhibiting the enzyme protoporphyrinogen oxidase to control broadleaf and some grass weeds in crops including cereals and canola.
Brachiaria deflexa is an annual millet grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to many regions such as Africa, India, and Pakistan in both tropical and subtropical regions. It has been used as a supplemental food source among other cereal crops.