Wild Oat

Pollen Type: Grass

Cross-Reactivity: Northern Grasses

HS Allergy Extract: Oats, Common Cultivated

Family: Poaceae

Genus/Species: Avena fatua

Common Names: Wild Oat

Distribution: Found mostly in the Pacific States. In many counties it is listed as an invasive plant and managed for elimination.

Locations: Wild Oat is a common weed in cultivated soil and waste places.

Pollination Method: Self-pollinated; wind-pollinated in rare occurrences

Pollinating Period: Spring into Fall depending on latitude and elevation.

Description: Wild Oat is an upright annual that grows 1’-4’ feet tall. The culms (stems) are stout and hairless. Leaf-blades are numerous, flat, and are ¼”- ½” wide. The panicle, or branch which contains the seed heads (flowers), is loose and open with the slender branches becoming horizontal with maturity. The three-flowered spikelets have stiff abruptly angled and bent awns (hair or needle like appendages) that are 1”-2” long. Wild Oat and is a very modest producer of pollen.

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