IDENTIFICATION
Provincial Noxious. Annual grass.
Wild oats is a fibrous-rooted grass with hollow, upright stems
and long flat leaf blades. Flowers are simple drooping spikelets
with two to three florets inside. Seeds are yellow to black with a bent,
twisted bristle and a circular scar at the base (cultivated oats lack
the bristle or it is straight and has no scar). Mature grass grows 0.6
- 1.5 m tall.
DAMAGE
Wild oats causes loss in crop productivity through competition
and lowered grain quality. Long bristles on the seed can injure livestock.
Wild oats is an alternative host for virus diseases of cereals
and alfalfa. It is not a problem on undisturbed lands. It can invade disturbed
sites, where its rapid growth and development make it competitive. Chemicals
from the roots inhibit the growth of other species.
HABITAT
In British Columbia, wild oats occurs in fields and disturbed areas.
It is present in all agriculture regions but occurs rarely in the Peace
River region.
SPREAD
Most seeds are shed around the parent plants. Seeds are moved during harvesting
when the plant is mixed with cultivated crops.
