Trisetaria linearis

Trisetaria linearis, Trisetum lineare, Avena arenaria, Oatgrass,
Hebrew: שילשון סרגלני

Scientific name:   Trisetaria linearis Forssk.
Synonym name:   Trisetum lineare (Forssk.) Boiss., Avena arenaria (Labill.) Spreng.
Common name:   Oatgrass
Hebrew name:   שילשון סרגלני
Arabic name:   الفار,…- El-Far
Family:   Gramineae (Poaceae), Grass Family, משפחת הדגניים


Life form:   Annual
Spinescence:   Non-
Stems:   Culms 10–30 cm tall, erect, geniculate, sca- brous
Leaves:   Alternate, leaves basal and cauline; sheaths longer than blades, flattened, pubescent, margins hairy, no stipule
Inflorescence:   Panicles 5–10 cm long, 0.5–1 cm wide, spiciform, linear, subtended by an inflated leaf sheath.
Flowers:   Green,pikelets 5–10 mm long, cuneate, laterally compressed; lemmas 3.5–7 mm long, 3-awned, central awns 8–10 mm long, geniculate, column twisted.
Fruits / pods:   Homogeneous seeds-fruits
Flowering Period:   March, April May
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:   Med-Saharo-Arabian
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Trisetaria, tri- ‘three’and Latin saeta (seta), ae á brisle, hair’, referring to the three awns of the lemmas.

linearis, narrow,with sides nearly parallel.
Trisetum three + bristle: three-awned lemma.
Avena, Latin for oats.
arenaria,Latin arena, sand; an allusion to the fact that most of the species of these herbs prefer sandy places.

  • The standard author abbreviation Forssk. is used to indicate Peter Forsskål (1732 – 1763), a Swedish explorer, orientalist and naturalist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Boiss. is used to indicate Pierre Edmond Boissier (1810 – 1885), a Swiss botanist, explorer and mathematician.
  • The standard author abbreviation Labill. is used to indicate Jacques Labillardière (1755 – 1834), a French naturalist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Spreng. is used to indicate Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (1766 – 1833), a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine.


The photos were taken at the Iris reserve, Netanya.