Scientific name: Avena sterilis subsp. ludoviciana (Durieu) C.C. Gillet and Magne

Synonyms: Avena ludoviciana Durieu; Avena persica Steudel

Common name: Ludo wild oat(s)

Family: Poaceae

Origin:

Native of Europe and western Asia.

Habit:

Tufted annual grass with upright habit, growing to a height of 2 m in crops - but usually about 1 m tall.

Habitat:

Usually found as a weed in cereal crops. Also found in waste places or along roads and railways).

General description:

Stems and leaves

Stems (culms) usually grow erect. Leaf blades are 40 cm x 1.2 cm, linear, and are rough to touch on the edges and veins. Sometimes leaves are sparsely hairy.

Flowers and fruit

The inflorescence is a loose panicle 10-30 cm long. Flower spikelets are stalked (pedicellate) and hanging (pendulous). They are made up of one to three 'florets' partially enclosed in two large papery bracts (glumes). Once mature the spikelets separate (disarticulate) from the glumes, which usually persist. The glumes are hairless and almost equal in size. The fruit consists of a seed tightly enclosed in two hairy and hardened 'bracts' (palea and lemma) and a large awn which is twisted and bent ( 2-4.5 cm in length).  The seed itself (caryopsis) is almost cylindrical (sub-terete), has a frontal groove, and is elongated.

Distinguishing characteristics:

There are two main types of wild oat found in Australia (ie. Avena fatua and Avena sterilis subsp. ludoviciana) and both are very similar. The one slight difference between these two species can be found in the flower spikelets. The 'florets' of Avena sterilis subsp. ludoviciana (ludo wild oat) are attached to each other by short stems and do not separate from each other easily at maturity, while the florets of Avena fatua (wild oat) separate quite easily at maturity.

Noxious status:

Not noxious.

Sources:

Kleinschmidt, H.E., Holland, A. and Simpson, P. (1996). Suburban Weeds. 3rd Edition. Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane.

Stanley, T.E. and Ross, E.M. (1983-1989). Flora of South-eastern Queensland. Volume 3. Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane.