Avena barbata Pott ex Link, Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: barbed oat, bearded oat, slender oat, slender wildoat

French: avione barbue, avoine à deux barbes

Spanish: avena barbada, balango, ballueca, cebada de perro, cebadilla

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Tufts green to dark green, often very slender, 65-100-(170) cm, erect or drooping above in taller plants. Leaf-sheath smooth, or slightly scabrid above, occasionally red-tinged. Ligule 2.7-5-(9) mm, obtuse, denticulate, abaxially finely scabrid. Leaf-blade 12.5-30 cm x 2-8 mm, finely scabrid on ribs and margins. Culm internodes glabrous. Panicle (12)-18-40 cm, very lax, equilateral; rachis smooth, branches and pedicels very filiform, finely scabrid. Spikelets 40-50 mm, 2-(3)-flowered; disarticulation below each floret at maturity. Glumes 7-9-nerved. Lemma 12-18 mm, narrow-lanceolate, light brown, with long stiff reddish hairs below level of awn insertion, green and scabrid above, each lobe-tip produced to a fine bristle (2-3 mm); lemmas awned, awns 30-36 mm, geniculate, column very dark brown, twisted. Palea keels with 1-2 rows of cilia, interkeel glabrous, flanks sometimes sparsely scabrid. Callus long hairy, with horse-shoe shaped scar. Rachilla long hairy. Anthers 2-3 mm. Caryopsis 5-7 x 0.8-1.3 mm, light brown, silky hairy" (Edgar & Connor, 2000; p. 302).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In New Zealand, "near the sea, especially on cliffs, dry banks, and steep grassy slopes, occasionally inland on disturbed ground, roadsides and in pasture"  (Edgar & Connor, 2000; p. 302).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Macaronesia, northern Africa, Europe, Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Lord Howe Island	Lord Howe Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 11) "A weed of disturbed soil". Voucher cited: R.D. Hoogland 8657 (CANB)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. (2002) (p. 13) Voucher cited: L. W. Cuddihy 238 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1499) Voucher cited: Hitchcock 13934 (US)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2009)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 23)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 302)

Additional information:
Identification and Management of Wild Oats

Additional online information about Avena barbata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Avena barbata as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Avena barbata may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Staples, George W./Imada, Clyde T./Herbst, Derral R. 2002. New Hawaiian plant records for 2000. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2000. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 68:3-18.

U. S. Government. 2009. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).