Wild Oats (Avena fatua)

Wild Oats stems stand erect, holding groups of nodding green flowers that soon turn to brown seed husks. This common oat grass often mixes with rattlesnake grass and thistles in dry grasslands.

January			April			July			October
			Green flowers		Pale brown seed husks

Field ID Tips

· Nodding green flowers soon turn to brown seed husks.

· Stems stand tall and erect.

Wild Oats-3--2012-05-01 San Mateo Coast

Wild Oats--2012-06-30 Mt Tam

Links:

Calphotos

Wikipedia

Mountain Home To West Point Grasses

Wild Oats--2012-05-05 Fairfax Bolinas Road-2

Wild oat stems are hollow, and stand erect, 3 or 4 feet tall. Flowers dangle from the stem, with long needles at the end.

Velvet Grass and Wild Oats--2012-06-27 Mt Tam

Wild oats form part of a beautiful brown grass-scape. The thick-flowered grass on the left is velvet grass.

Wild Oats, Rattlesnake Grass and Dog Tail Grass--2012-08-15 Eldridge Loop

Here is a dry grassland special. Wild oats on the left. Then rattlesnake grass. The yellow flowers with the round green balls below are Gumweed. The thick-topped grass with spikes above the Gumweed is Dogtail Grass. And the purple flower on the right is tackstem.