Avena sativa L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: yan mai

English: oat

French: avoine byzantine, avoine cultivée

Hawaiian: ‘oka

Hindi: jai

Spanish: avena, avena común, avena roja

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Stout annuals; culms (2.5-) 4-8 (-12.5) dm tall.  Sheaths glabrous, with margins overlapping; ligule 2-5.5 mm long, obtuse, puberulent, finely erose-ciliate; blades (4-) 5-10 (-17) mm wide.  Inflorescences paniculate, 12-30 cm long, open; spikelets 2 (3)-flowered, rachilla glabrous or sparsely hirsute, not readily disarticulating above glumes and between florets; glumes usually exceeding florets, 9-11 (-13)-nerved, first glume (17-) 18-26 mm long, second glume (18-) 20-28 mm long; lemmas (12-) 14-20 mm long, glabrous to sometimes scabrous, 3-7-nerved, the nerves obscure on the indurate, yellowish brown lower part and prominent on the herbaceous upper 1/3, apex entire or very shallowly bilobed, callus naked or only sparsely bearded, awns, when ± present, on first floret, (15-) 22-35 mm long, not geniculate; palea firm, the 2 keels ciliate.  Caryopsis pale brown, ellipsoid, ca. 1 cm long, ca. 2.5 mm wide, appressed pubescent"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1500).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "sparingly naturalized in disturbed places and occasionally in open pastures, 60-1,220 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1500). In Fiji, "may be found as a non-persistent adventive" (Smith, 1979; p. 315). In New Caledonia, "se rencontre rarement à présent comme mauvaise herbe anthropophile" (MacKee, 1994; p. 56).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Presumably native to southeastern Europe or western Asia, now cultivated throughout the world" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1500).

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) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 11) "Introduced to the Island as fodder, or possibly grain, and recorded by N.Hermes".
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Isabela Group	Volcán Sierra Negra, Isabela Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 315) Vouchers cited: DA 2414, DA 11783. Adventive but does not persist.
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island		Fosberg, F. R. (1997) (p. 98)
French Polynesia Society Islands	Tahiti Island	introduced invasive	Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. (2011) Voucher cited: J. Florence 11108 (PAP) Naturalisé près d'un centre équestre abandonné.
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Raulerson, L. (2006) (p. 7)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1500)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1500)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1500)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 56) Voucher cited: Baumann 16052
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Raoul Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1977) (p. 162) Present status unknown.
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	introduced	Merrill, Elmer D. (1925) (p. 83) Occasional at and above 1,500 m altitude, here a casual that will probably not persist.

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	Hong Kong	introduced cultivated	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 324)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 304) "On roadsides, on railway em-bankments, and near racecourses and in farmland, occasionally in damp ground".

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

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

Florence, J./Chevillotte, H./Ollier, C./Meyer, J.-Y. 2011. Base de données botaniques Nadeaud de l'Herbier de la Polynésie Française (PAP). (online resource).

Fosberg, F. R. 1997. Preliminary checklist of the flowering plants and ferns of the Society Islands. Ed. by David R. Stoddart. U. Cal. Berkeley.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Merrill, Elmer D. 1925. An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, vol. 1 [reprint]. Bureau of Printing, Manila. 463 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

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

Raulerson, L. 2006. Checklist of Plants of the Mariana Islands. University of Guam Herbarium Contribution 37:1-69. .

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Sykes, W. R. 1977. Kermadec Islands flora: an annotated checklist. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 219, Wellington. 216 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. 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).

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).