General:
Annual grass from fibrous roots; stems hollow, up to 100 cm tall.

Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades flat; ligules 2-4 mm long, membranous, short-hairy, rounded, the margins finely jagged and fringed with small hairs.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a large, open panicle, the branches pendulous; spikelets usually with 2 or sometimes, 3 florets; glumes 20-25 mm long, about equal, both usually surpassing the florets; lemmas lanceolate, the lower lemmas with awns arising just above the middle, the awns straight to slightly twisted or curved, up to 15 mm longer than the lemmas, the upper lemma awnless; lemmas much hardened and smooth to above midlength, the upper portions thickened, greenish and prominently ribbed, entire or very shallowly bilobed at the tips, the calluses smooth or sparsely bearded; rachillas not readily disarticulating between the florets, smooth or sparsely stiff-hairy, firm; anthers 3-4 mm long; lodicules linear, about 1.8 mm long.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
Yellow

Blooming Period:
Late Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer

Source:  The USDA

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Avena byzantina K. Koch
Avena fatua var. sativa (L.) Hausskn.
Avena hybrida Peterm. ex Rchb.
Avena sativa var. orientalis (Schreb.) Alef.