AVENA SATIVA. ORD. LI. Gramina. 107 
AVENA SATIVA. | COMMON OAT. 
SYNONYMA. Avena. Camer. Epit. 191; Fuchs. Hist. 185. Avena sativa. 
Linn. Sp. Pl.118; Willd. Sp. Pl. v,i. p. 446, Proem. et Sch. v. ii. p. 668. 
Host. Gram. Austr. v.ii. t. 59. 
Class III. Triandria. Order IT. Digynia. 
Nat. Ord. Gramina, Linn. Graminee, Br. 
Gen. Char. Panicle lax. Calyx two-valved, two-flowered. Corolla of two 
lanceolate valves, firmly enclosing the seed, exterior one bearing a twisted 
dorsal awn. Upper florets often imperfect. 
Spec. Char. Panicle equal, spikelets somewhat two-flowered.  Filorets 
shorter than the calyx, one or more of the upper ones imperfect and awn- 
less, their base naked, root fibrous, annual. 
THE root of this plant is annual, and consists of many fibres; the stem or 
culm rises about two feet in height, glabrous and smooth. The leaves broadly 
linear, rough, especially at the margins. The inflorescence is produced in a 
- loose panicle, with the subdivisions on long pendulous peduncles; the two 
- glumes of the calyx are marked with lines, pointed, unequal, and longer 
than the flower. There are two or three flowers in each calyx, of which one 
is usually imperfect ; they are alternate, conical, the smaller ones awnless, 
the larger puts forth a strong, two-coloured bent awn, from the middle of 
the back. Seeds oblong,downy. Figure (a) a magnified flower, (4) the ger- 
men and anthers magnified. 
The Avena sativa has been long cultivated in many countries in Europe, 
but it has never been satisfactorily ascertained if it be a native, or a natural- 
ized production.* In the north of Europe many varieties of this plant are 
* It was found by Commodore Anson growing wild upon the island of Juan Fernan- 
dez, on the coast of Chili. 
P2 
