Broad-leaf wood-oats

Images

Click on image to view full size

Broad-leaf wood-oats

Broad-leaf wood-oats

Broad-leaf wood-oats ligule

Broad-leaf wood-oats habit

Broad-leaf wood-oats spikelets

Broad-leaf wood-oats habit

Lower blade and ligule of broad-leaf wood-oats

Broad-leaf wood-oats

Broad-leaf wood-oats leaf

Morphology

Culm

Erect, simple or sparingly branched, hollow, glabrous, ribbed.

Blades

Flat, 2 to 8.5 inches long, .25 to 1 inch wide, midrib conspicuous, glabrous or sparsely soft-hairy near ligule; margins rough; tips pointed.

Sheath

Usually shorter than internodes, open, glabrous.

Ligule

Membranous, fringed with short hairs.

Inflorescence

Panicles, 5-10 inches long, drooping.

Spikelets

On long, threadlike stalks, 5-17-flowered, ovate to broadly oblong, .5 to 1.5 inch long, .5 to .75 inch wide, flat, green, tawny when mature; awns absent; glumes and lemmas keeled.

Ecology

Habitat

Wooded areas and along streams, in moist soils.

Distribution

East 1/2 of Kansas

Practical Information

Uses

Native Americans occasionally ate the seeds. Wild oats sometimes is used in dried floral arrangements.

Additional Notes