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Wild Oat
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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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