Oats facts for kids
Oats are a type of plant that belongs to the grass family. They are known for their seeds, which humans and animals have eaten for thousands of years. You can find different kinds of oats growing all over Europe, Asia, and northwest Africa. Some types of oats have spread to many other parts of the world. When they grow where crops are planted, they can sometimes be seen as unwanted plants, or "weeds." All oats have seeds you can eat, but for most wild types, the seeds are small and hard to collect.
Quick facts for kids Oats |
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| Common wild oat (Avena fatua) | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Clade: | BOP clade |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Tribe: | Poeae |
| Genus: | Avena L. 1753 not Scop. 1777 nor Thell. 1911 |
| Type species | |
| Avena sativa |
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| Synonyms | |
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Oats and Nature
Oats, including the ones we grow for food, are sometimes eaten by the young forms (called larvae) of certain moths and butterflies. For example, the larvae of the rustic shoulder-knot and setaceous Hebrew character moths use oats as a food source.
Types of Oats
There are many different kinds of oats. Some are grown by farmers for food, while others grow wild.
Oats Grown by Farmers
One type of oat is very important around the world as a cereal grain. Four other types are also grown, but they are less common or only grown in certain areas.
- Avena sativa – This is the common oat. It's the one most people think of when they hear "oats." It's a very important food crop globally.
- Avena abyssinica – This is called the Ethiopian oat. It naturally grows in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti. It has also spread to Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
- Avena byzantina – This oat is a smaller crop in Greece and the Middle East. It has been brought to places like Spain, Algeria, India, New Zealand, and South America.
- Avena nuda – This is the naked oat or hulless oat. It was grown a lot in Europe before the common oat became popular. Its seeds are a bit healthier than common oats, so it's becoming more important, especially in organic farming.
- Avena strigosa – This oat is also known as the lopsided oat or black oat. It's grown to feed animals (called fodder) in parts of Western Europe and Brazil.
Wild Oats
Many types of Avena grow in the wild. Sometimes, they grow as unwanted plants (weeds) in farm fields. These are called wild oats or oat-grasses. When they grow next to cultivated oats, they can be a problem. This is because they are also grasses, so it's hard to remove them with regular chemicals that kill weeds. Those chemicals would also hurt the good oat crop. Farmers need to use special chemicals to get rid of wild oats. It can be expensive, and wild oat seeds can stay hidden in the soil for up to 10 years before growing.
Here are some examples of wild oat species:
- Avena aemulans – Found in European Russia.
- Avena barbata – The slender wild oat, found from Portugal and Morocco to Tajikistan.
- Avena brevis – The short oat, found in central and southern Europe.
- Avena chinensis – Found in Germany and Austria, and introduced to China and Belarus.
- Avena clauda – Found in the Balkans, Middle East, and Central Asia.
- Avena eriantha – Found in North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus region.
- Avena fatua – The common wild oat, found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It has spread to Australia, the Americas, and many islands.
- Avena longiglumis – Found in North Africa, Israel, Spain, Portugal, and Sardinia.
- Avena maroccana – The Moroccan oat, found in Morocco.
- Avena murphyi – Found in Morocco and Spain.
- Avena prostrata – Found in Morocco and Spain.
- Avena saxatilis – Found in Sicily and small nearby islands.
- Avena sterilis – The winter wild oat, found in the Mediterranean and East Africa. It has spread to northern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas.
- Avena strigosa – Found in Spain, France, and Portugal. It has also been introduced to other parts of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas.
- Avena vaviloviana – Found in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
- Avena ventricosa – Found in North Africa and the Middle East.
- Avena volgensis – Found in European Russia.
See also
In Spanish: Avena sativa para niños
