Family
Poaceae
Common Name
Wild oat
Regulation
Secondary Noxious, Class 3 in the Canadian Weed Seeds Order, 2016 under the Seeds Act.
Distribution
Canadian: Occurs across Canada except in NU; ephemeral in YT (Brouillet et al. 2016Footnote 1).
Worldwide: Native to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia (USDA-ARS 2016Footnote 2); associated with the cultivation of oats and other cereals since the Iron Age (CABI 2016Footnote 3). Introduced throughout temperate regions and present on all continents except Antarctica (CABI 2016Footnote 3; USDA-ARS 2016Footnote 2). Occurs throughout the United States, except in a few southeastern states (Kartesz 2011Footnote 4, USDA-NRCS 2016Footnote 5).
Duration of life cycle
Annual
Seed or fruit type
Floret
Identification features
Size
- Floret length: 10.0 - 15.0 mm
- Floret width: 2.5 - 4.0 mm
- Caryopsis length: 6.0 - 8.0 mm
- Caryopsis width: 2.0 - 3.0 mm
Shape
- Floret elongate; tapered at the top and narrowed at the base with a flared callus
Surface Texture
- Floret has a rough surface
- Long, stiff hairs around the base of floret
Colour
- Floret tends to be a reddish colour with a straw yellow tip, but can be straw yellow to brown
Other Features
- Callus at the base of the floret is prominent and spoon- shaped
- Caryopsis is covered in hairs, the scutellum is absent and often has an indentation where the awn arose from the lemma
- A strongly bent and twisted awn is attached to the upper 1/2 of the lemma; up to 40.0 mm long
Habitat and Crop Association
Cultivated fields, fallow fields, pastures, gardens, roadsides and disturbed areas (Sharma and Vanden Born 1978Footnote 6, Darbyshire 2003Footnote 7). A serious weed of cereals, oilseeds and legume crops, mainly associated with fertile soils and spring cereals but can be found on nearly all soil types in a wide range of cropping systems (Sharma and Vanden Born 1978Footnote 6, CABI 2016Footnote 3).
General Information
Wild oat has relatively large seeds and its dispersal is associated with the cultivation of cereal crops around the world (CABI 2016Footnote 3). In North America, it was introduced by early European settlers as a contaminant in seeds and animal feed, and the earliest record in Canada indicates it was present in oats cultivated in Newfoundland in 1622 (Sharma and Vanden Born 1978Footnote 6). Since then it has spread across the continent in cereals and other crops.
A single wild oat plant typically produces 100-150 seeds, with reports of up to 500 seeds per plant depending on growing conditions (Sharma and Vanden Born 1978Footnote 6); seeds may remain viable for up to 14 years (CABI 2016Footnote 3).
Similar species
Tame oat (Avena sativa)
- Tame oat florets are a similar to those of wild oat in length, elongated shape, lighter colour and a pointed rachilla.
- Tame oat florets tend to be wider (width: 2.5 - 4.5 mm), a uniform straw yellow (although red-brown and grey varieties occur), with a smooth to slightly pebbled surface.
- The callus of tame oat tends to be peg-like and fractured. There may be a rudimentary awn that does not create an indentation on the caryopsis.
Photos
Similar species
