Avena sativa

Cultivated oat, Cultivated Oat

Family: Poaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Cultivated oat is a naturalized annual found in the California Floristic Province in disturbed sites at elevations below 2,200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces tan to golden spikelets with delicate awns in loose, spreading clusters. Growing with tall stems 40 to 180 centimeters high, it has an upright, robust growth habit typical of grain crops. Its leaves are long and slender, with blades 8 to 45 centimeters in length and 3 to 16 millimeters wide, featuring a slightly rough texture. The spikelets are complex, with glumes 15 to 50 millimeters long and multiple florets that remain attached even after maturity.

Habitat: Disturbed sites

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 2200 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Los Angeles, Mendocino, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Monterey, Riverside, Ventura, Sutter, Sacramento, Solano, Nevada, Merced, Mariposa, Fresno, Madera, Contra Costa, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Trinity, Sonoma, San Mateo, Marin, San Francisco, Tulare, Butte, Tehama, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Del Norte, Shasta, Yolo, Glenn, Sierra, Imperial, Stanislaus, Napa, Placer

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.