80 



The Journal of Heredity 



TYPES OF THE WILD, TEMPERATE OAT 



Four forms of Avena fatua. 1. A.fatua itself. 2. A.fatita ^labrescem. 

 3. A.fatua subuniflora. 4. A.fatua subuniflora inermis. The 

 second has sometimes been supposed, without any proof, to be a 

 hybrid of A.fatua and A. saliva. The third is found at con- 

 siderable altitudes in Algeria, and sometimes presents awnless 

 individuals (no. 4), which could easily be fixed to produce an 

 awnless variety of this subspecies. (Figure 17). 



I have proven that very few varieties 

 give satisfactory results in cultivation 

 along the coast. The few varieties 

 which have resisted drought and rust 

 were received under names Abruzzi 

 oats, Naples oats, Tunisian oats, Span- 

 ish oats, Greek oats. They all have the 

 same appearance and are practically 

 indistinguishable. They are all Avena 

 sterilis culta. 



This type derived from A. sterilis 

 does not seem to have acquired any 

 other characters than very secondary 

 ones; color more or less bright, awn 

 more or less reduced, hairs of the callus 

 more or less abundant. By careful 

 segregation, a form with shorter grain, 

 more swollen and of greater density 

 (fig. 1, 2, no. 4) is obtained, but the 

 lemmae remain hard, which is a very 

 serious defect. A form with three grains 

 may also be fixed. 



.\LK.\LI RESISTANCE, 



The Algerian oat not only resists 

 heat and rust, but also to a ccrt£iin 

 degree alkali in the soil. In the f)lains 

 of Oran, very extensive growths of 

 A. sterilis ludoviciana arc often seen in 

 saline places. 



It is evidently from this form that it 

 will be possible to obtain a race suitable 

 for saline soils; there already exist 



glabrescent variations with reduced 

 awns. 



The results of my observations on the 

 resistance of the Algerian oat, have, 

 for a long time, attracted the attention 

 of the experiment stations of Cape of 

 Good Hope, Australia, and the United 

 States, which have checked my state- 

 ments and have made important dis- 

 tributions of seed of Algerian origin. 

 The restilts obtained have been good. 



From the point of view of genetics, 

 it is interesting to show the great 

 uniformity of Avena sterilis culta, while 

 Avena fatua sativa has been almost over- 

 whelmed by the multi])licity of its 

 cultivated races. 



I have tried hybridizing, after having 

 shown that no culti\'ated fonn could be 

 regarded as having the combined char- 

 acters of the two species. It will be 

 useful, by causing variations, to obtain 

 the following modifications of the 

 Algerian oat: 



a) Reduction of the length of the 

 lemmae. There already exist elementary 

 forms showing this character, as well as 

 the reduction of the awns. 



h) Reduction of the hardness of the 

 lemmae which make this oat less diges- 

 tible. The weight of chaff in relation 

 to kernel is nevertheless no higher in 



