AVENA 131 



latter by the long reddish-brown hairs at the base of the 

 lemma and on the rachilla. 



In cultivated sorts, there appears occasionally the so-called 

 "false wild oats," differing in its characteristics both from 

 the cultivated varieties and the true wild oats. It differs 

 from the cultivated varieties in having the long twisted and 

 bent awns. The kernels, however, are similar to those of the 

 cultivated varieties. 



Origin of Oats. — It is held by Haussknecht, Thellung, 

 Trabut, and others that all the varieties belonging to A. 

 saliva, A. orientalis, and A. nuda have originated from A. 

 fatua. Under cultivation, A. fatua has lost the fragility of 

 its articulations, its hairs and, in some instances, its awns. 

 A. slrigosa and A. brevis are derived from A. barbata, a 

 species growing wild in the Mediterranean region, Persia, 

 Mesopotamia, west to Atlantic Europe and Great Britain. 

 A. abyssinica is originated from A. wiestii, a species in- 

 digenous to North Africa and Arabia. A. byzantina has 

 come from A. sterilis, the so-called "animated" or "fly" 

 oats, a wild form frequent in the Mediterranean region. 

 Trabut has found in this region all forms of Avena sterilis 

 ("sterile" oats), beginning with those that are small and 

 useless and ending with the forms now cultivated there. 

 Algerian oat {A. algeriensis) is the common cultivated variety 

 of the sterile oat. 



All the forms of oats derived from A . fatua are character- 

 ized by the easy separation of the second flower from the 

 rachilla, which persists above the lower flower. In those 

 forms of oats derived from A. sterilis, on the other hand ,the 

 second flower does not separate from the lower flower without 

 carrying away the rachilla at its base. 



Environmental Relations. — Oats is adapted to a humid, 

 moderately cool climate, such as is found in the region north 



