Wild oats as successful weeds

Abstract

Wild oats, Avena fatua L. and Avena sterilis L. (including ssp. ludoviciana Malzew which is often called A. ludoviciana Dur.) are among the most successful weeds in the world, as judged by their world-wide distribution and abundance (Thurston and Phillipson 1976; Baum 1977). They have been studied more thorougly than most weeds and can be used to illustrate almost all the points discussed in previous chapters. The various aspects of wild oats as weeds are discussed in detail, with over 750 references, in Wild Oats in World Agriculture, edited by D. Price-Jones (1976). The tetraploid Avena barbata is a plant of waste places and Avena strigosa is sometimes cultivated.