Avena brevis
Roth
Short oat, Fly's leg
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Wikimedia Commons - Cornell University.; Cornell University.
Summary
Source: WikipediaAvena brevis, the short oat, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae whose seeds are edible.
Description
Annual oat species flowering June to July with seed maturation August to October. Wind-pollinated hermaphrodite adapted to light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils with well-drained conditions. Tolerates mildly acidic through basic soil pH. Requires full sun exposure and manages both dry and moist soils with good drought tolerance.
Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Seed Edible Uses: Coffee Seed - cooked. The seed ripens in the latter half of summer and, when harvested and dried, can store for several years. It has a floury texture and a mild, somewhat creamy flavour. It can be used as a staple food crop in either savoury or sweet dishes. The seed can be cooked whole, though it is more commonly ground into a flour and used as a cereal in all the ways that oats are used, especially as a porridge but also to make biscuits, sourdough bread etc. The seed can also be sprouted and eaten raw or cooked in salads, stews etc. The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
Medicinal Uses
None known
Distribution
It is a cool temperate plant. It grows in mountainous districts of Europe.
Where It Grows
Europe, France, Germany, Russia,
Cultivation
We have very little information on this species, but it should be possible to grow it as a spring-sown annual in Britain, and might also succeed as an autumn-sown crop. A diploid species, it is of little commercial importance but is locally cultivated in sandy fields in Europe for its edible seed. It is often used in mountainous regions because the seed ripens quickly. A parent of the cultivated species of oats. Closely related to A. sativa, differing mainly in its small spikelets and plumper lemmas. The following notes are based on the general needs of the genus. Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun. Oats are in general easily grown plants but, especially when grown on a small scale, the seed is often completely eaten out by birds. Some sort of netting seems to be the best answer on a garden scale.
Propagation
Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.
Other Uses
Fibre Mulch Paper Thatching The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching. Some caution is advised in its use as a mulch since oat straw can infest strawberries with stem and bulb eelworm. Special Uses
Production
It matures quickly.
Notes
There are about 25 Avena species.
References (4)
- Bot. Abh. Beobacht. 42. 1787 (Tent. fl. Germ. 1:40. 1788)
- Bircher, A. G. & Bircher, W. H., 2000, Encyclopedia of Fruit Trees and Edible Flowering Plants in Egypt and the Subtropics. AUC Press. p 48
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
