Plants in Israel: Animated oat

Avena sterilis, Animated oat, Sterile oat, Wild oat,
Wild red oat, Winter wild oat,
Hebrew: שיבולת-שועל נפוצה, Arabic: شوفان بري


Scientific name:		Avena sterilis L.
Synonym name:		Avena affinis Bernh. ex Steud; Avena algeriensis Trab.; Avena byzantina K.Koch; Avena ludoviciana Durieu, Avena sativa
Common name:		Animated oat, Sterile oat, Wild oat, Wild red oat, Winter wild oat
Hebrew name:		שיבולת-שועל נפוצה
Arabic name:		شوفان بري
Family:		Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים

Avena sterilis, Animated oat, Sterile oat, Wild oat, Wild red oat, Winter wild oat, שיבולת-שועל נפוצה, شوفان بري


Life form:		Annual
Stems:		30-120 cm, initially prostrate, erect
Leaves:		Alternate, entire
Inflorescence:		Panicles 10-45 cm long, 5-25 cm wide; Spikelets 24-50 mm, with 2-5 florets
Flowers:		Green and nodding panicle, flowers connate and falling as one unit at maturity; Lemmas 25-40 mm long, hirsute with a geniculate awn 4-9 cm long; floret with bearded callus
Fruits / pods:		Caryopsis
Flowering Period:		March, April, May
Habitat:		Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:		Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:		Med - Irano-Turanian
Summer shedding:		Ephemeral

Derivation of the botanical name:
Avena, Latin for oats.
sterilis, sterilized.
affinis, related or similar to; neighbouring, allied to, akin to.
algeriensis, Algerian.
byzantina, Istanbul, classically Byzantium.
ludoviciana, Louisiana or former Louisiana Territory, U.S.A.
sativa, sown, planted, cultivated.
The Hebrew word: שיבולת-שועל, shibolet-shual, oats, from Aramaic: שבלתא, shibalta.
Oats are mentioned in the Mishnah Kil'ayim, משנה כלאים א׳:א׳.

The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.
The standard author abbreviation Bernh. is used to indicate Johann Jacob Bernhardi (1774–1850), a German professor of botany.
The standard author abbreviation Steud. is used to indicate Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel (1783–1856), a German physician and an authority on grasses.
The standard author abbreviation K.Koch is used to indicate Karl Heinrich Emil Koch (1809–1879), a German botanist.
The standard author abbreviation Durieu is used to indicate Michel Charles Durieu de Maisonneuve (1796–1878), a French soldier and botanist.

The morphological differences between Avena sterilis, שיבולת-שועל נפוצה and Avena fatua, שיבולת-שועל שוטה:

Character	*Avena sterilis*	*Avena fatua*
disarticulation	above glumes, below basal floret only; florets may be found as attached pairs	above glumes and between florets; florets almost always found singly
florets per spikelet	2-5	2-3
awn length	3-8 cm	3-4 cm
awn attachment	below middle of floret	above middle of floret
floret length	in general longer and wider than A. fatua, 15-40 mm (usually 20-25 mm)	in general shorter than A. sterilis, 14-20 mm
rachilla tip shape	flare-shaped (secondary and tertiary florets only)	rounded-triangular, diamond-shaped (all florets)
basal scar shape	elongated, scoop-shaped, longer than A. fatua (basal floret only); other florets fractured	horseshoe-shaped, sucker-mouthed (all florets)
callus hairs	to 7.5 mm long	to 5.5 mm long
caryopsis shape	oblong	long, narrow, depression towards tip (caused by awn) on embryo side