ETYM Old Eng. ote, ate, as. âta, akin to Fries. oat. Of uncertain origin.
1. Annual grass of Europe and North Africa; grains used as food and fodder (referred to primarily in the plural: 'oats').
2. Seed of the annual grass Avena sativa (spoken of primarily in the plural as 'oats').
Type of grass, genus Avena, a cereal food. The plant has long, narrow leaves and a stiff straw stem; the panicles of flowers, and later of grain, hang downward. The cultivated oat Avena sativa is produced for human and animal food.
It was an early domesticant (as a weed in the wheatfields) and survived cool temperatures where wheat had trouble growing. It is especially hardy in N Europe. + prikaži više