494 CULTIVATED AND WILD OATS 



slender steins and large open spreading panicle. The spikelets 

 generally contain three flowers, the flowering glumes of which 

 bear a strong bent awn. The rachilla and base of the flowering 

 glume are covered with long reddish-brown hairs (Fig. 155). 



3. Bristle-pointed Oat {Avena strigosa Schreb.). — An annual 

 weed often confused with the previous species, from which it 

 differs in having one-sided panicles and fewer branches. The 

 flowering glumes are, moreover, more deeply divided at the apex 

 and the two segments prolonged into short bristles or awn-like 

 projections ; the rachilla and base of the flowering glume are 

 smooth. 



This species was formerly cultivated on poor exposed land 

 in the northern parts of Scotland as a bread-corn, but is now 

 most frequently seen as a weed among the superior cereals. 



It is also sometimes cultivated as green fodder for cattle. 



4. Animated or Fly Oat {Avena sterilis L.). — A species grown 

 in gardens as a curiosity. The panicle is spreading and the 

 'grain' very much resembles that of the wild oat, except that 

 it is much larger and has longer reddish-brown hairs on the 

 flowering glume and rachilla. When the dry, strong twisted 

 awn absorbs moisture it untwists and gives a creeping motion to 

 the grain. 



5. Short Oat {Avena brevis Roth.). — A species of oat with 

 thin grass-like stems and bulky crop of leaves, sometimes grown 

 for green fodder for cattle or to be made into hay. 



The panicle is one-sided and the spikelets contain one or two 

 flowers with awned flowering glumes. The 'oats' are plump, 

 brownish and about a quarter of an inch long, with similarly 

 short flowering glumes which are awned. 



6. Common Cultivated Oat. — This cereal in the northern 

 countries of Europe is an important bread-corn, but in the 

 warmer and drier parts the grain is chiefly used as food for 

 stock, especially horses. It is also grown as an early spring 

 green crop. 



