Plants in Israel: Slender oat

Avena barbata, Avena hirsuta, Slender oat, Slender oats, Slender wildoat,

Hebrew: שיבולת-שועל מתפרקת, Arabic: سنيسله

Scientific name:   Avena barbata Pott ex Link
Scientific name:   Avena hirsuta Moench
Common name:   Slender oat, Wild oat
Hebrew name:   שיבולת-שועל מתפרקת
Arabic name:   سنيسله
Family:   Graminea (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   60–80 cm, becoming erect
Leaves:   Alternate, entire, glabrous to minutely scabrous, smooth margin
Inflorescence:   Panicle with a roughly pyramidal shape with equilateral branches spreading outward; Spikelets pendulous, 21-30 mm, with 2-3 florets
Flowers:   Glumes subequal, 15-30 mm, 7-9-veined; calluses bearded, hairs 2-3 mm; fertile lemma lanceolate; coriaceous; without keel; Lemma surface scabrous, rough above, pilose, hairy below; lemma apex dentate; palea keels ciliolate; lodicules narrowly triangular, without lobes on the wings; 3 anthers; ovary pubescent
Fruits / pods:   Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; cylindric, longitudinally grooved, pubescent
Flowering Period:   March, April
Habitat:   Batha, Phrygana
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes, Deserts and extreme deserts, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Avena, Latin for oats.

barbata, bearded, with lomg weak hairs.
hirsuta, hairy.
The Hebrew word: שיבולת-שועל, shibolet-shual, oats, from Aramaic: שבלתא, shibalta.
Oats are mentioned in the Mishnah Kil’ayim, משנה כלאים א׳:א׳.

  • The standard author abbreviation Pott is used to indicate Johann Friedrich Pott (1738 – 1805) , a German botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Link is used to indicate Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link (1767 – 1851), a German naturalist and botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Moench is used to indicate Conrad Moench (1744 – 1805), a German botanist, Professor of Botany at the Marburg University.