68 MISC. PUBLICATION 243, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
31. AVENA L., Sp. Pl. 79. 1753 
Spikelets 2 to several-flowered, the rachilla bearded, disarticulating 
above the glumes and between the florets; glumes about equal, 
membranaceous or papery, several-nerved, longer than the lower 
floret, usually exceeding the upper floret; lemmas indurate, except 
toward the summit, 5- to 9-nerved, bidentate at the apex, bearing a 
dorsal bent and twisted awn (this straight and reduced in Avena 
sativa). Annuals with open panicles of large spikelets. 
Lemmas: clabroustor nearhyasost us 6. et ye ope fer ee 1: As Sarna: 
Lemmas pubescent with long*brown hairs___——______=-__== == 2. A. FATUA. 
1. Avena sativa L., Sp. Pl. 79. 1753. Oat. 
Culms rather stout, erect, 50 to 100 cm tall; blades flat, 5 to 10 
mm wide; panicle 5 to 20 cm long or, in cultivated specimens, larger; 
spikelets mostly 2-flowered; glumes 2 to 3 cm long, striate-nerved; 
lemmas glabrous or nearly so, the awn often poorly developed. 
Widely cultivated in temperate regions, often escaped but not 
persistent. Seldom grown in the West Indies. 
Bermupa: Collins 335. 
Cusa: Habana, Léon 809. 
JAMAICA: Summit of Blue Mountain Peak, Hitchcock 9369. Gor- 
don Town, Hart. 
2. Avena fatua L., Sp. Pl. 80. 1753. WILD OAT. 
Differing from A. sativa chiefly in the long stiff brownish hairs on 
the florets and rachilla; awn stout, geniculate, twisted below, 3 to 
4 cm long (fig. 38). 
A weed in temperate regions, rare in the Tropics. 
JAMAICA: Gordon Town, Hart 1493. 
32 PEOLCUS be Sp. Pia. aber 5 
(Notholcus Nash; Hitche., in Jepson, Fl. Calif. 1: 126. 1912) 
Spikelets 2-flowered, the pedicel disarticulating below the glumes, 
the rachilla curved and somewhat elongate below the first floret, not 
prolonged above the second floret; glumes about equal, longer than 
the two florets; first floret perfect, its lemma awnless; second floret 
staminate, its lemma awned on the back. Perennials with flat blades 
and contracted panicles. 
1. Holcus lanatus L., Sp. Pl. 1048. 1753. Europe. VELVET GRASS. 
Notholcus lanatus Nash; Hitche., in Jepson, Fl. Calif. 1: 126. 1912. 
Perennial, 0.5 to 1 m tall, grayish-velvety throughout, the pale, 
rather densely flowered narrow panicle usually 8 to 10 cm long; 
glumes about 4 mm long; first floret 2 mm long, the second smaller, 
with a hooklike awn. 
Pastures and waste places at upper altitudes. A native of Europe; 
introduced in America and occasionally cultivated as a meadow grass. 
Not grown in the West Indies. 
JAMAICA: Without locality, Hart 748. 
Haiti: Furcy, Cook, Scofield, and Doyle 35. 
18 See p. 407, footnote 9, for discussion of the name Holcus. 
