OATS 273 



with it the axis on which it was borne. Trabut l has re- 

 cently called attention to the fact that many cultivated 

 varieties of oats, particularly those grown in the Mediter- 

 ranean region, trace back to A . sterilis rather than A . fatua; 

 also that the wild species A. barbata, a dry-region oat 

 common throughout much of northern Africa, has given 

 rise to some cultivated forms. The special adaptations 

 of the descendants of these wild types are given in the 

 following quotation from Trabut: 



" Avena fatua gives rise to oats adapted to temperate and 

 mountainous regions; Avena sterilis, to oats adapted to the 

 southern countries, and to saline soils; Avena barbata, to 

 races adapted to dry countries." 



The oat varieties of the southern United States are all 

 descendants of Avena fatua. Among those who have given 

 special study to the genetic history of oats some believe 

 that oat production in the South could be made more prof- 

 itable by the introduction and acclimatization of some of 

 the cultivated descendants of Avena slerilis. 



STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE OAT 



329. The plant. The oat plant varies in height from 

 two to five feet. The culms are hollow with closed joints. 

 At each joint on the stem is borne a leaf consisting of leaf- 

 sheath and blade. The sheath splits open on the side 

 opposite the blade. The auricles, present in all other 

 small-grains at the junction of the blade and sheath, are 

 either absent or suppressed in oats. The leaf-blade of 

 the oat plant is broader than that of wheat or rye. On its 

 margin are small inconspicuous hairs. 



1 Dr. L. Trabut, " Origin of Cultivated Oats," Jour, of Her., Vol. 5, 

 No. 2, 12, 56. 



