Sly and cunning wild oat: interesting facts about an unusual plant

Yes, and a plant can be insidious, such as wild oats, or, as it is also called, wild oats. It would seem to be a relative of the noble cultivated oats, but behaves like a malicious enemy of cultures. Nature has endowed it with such vitality that, destroying everything in its path, it can persist in the soil for up to ten years. What farmers do not do to defeat the insidious wild oats, but often all efforts are in vain: wild oats survive over and over again.

Weed Ovsyug: plant photo
Wild oats or wild oats, a relative of cultivated oats, are weeds, and that explains a lot. This interesting representative of the flora is able to adapt so deftly to all unfavorable conditions that one might think that this plant is endowed with the qualities of a living being.
The wild oats, having got into the wild natural environment, gradually, having gone through many stages of evolution, learned to withstand competition with other plants and even defeat them. In practice, this weed is practically not removed from crops. It can always be found along with spring wheat, barley and other grains.
And outwardly, it is almost impossible to distinguish it from cultivated oats. It is given out only by ripe wild oat seeds, which are with a black tint and a horseshoe at the base, and curved awns, which the noble culture does not have.
It is interesting how the wild oat seed behaves if you put it on a flat table and drip water on it. It seems to come to life and begins a gradual rotation around its axis. Wild oats also behave in natural conditions: when it rains, it starts spinning and is practically screwed into the ground. Having such a property, wild oat itself does everything to be in the ground, moreover, not on the surface, but in its very thickness. Thus, all favorable conditions are created for the germination of many of its seeds.

Common wild oat: photo of a plant
In wild oats, the panicle part of the plant is three-tiered. The grains on these tiers ripen and fall unevenly. First, the grains ripen from the upper part of the panicle, and gradually, within about a month, the grains from the lateral parts ripen and fall into the ground. Thus, the "harvest" of this millet weed is huge, and it is almost impossible to get rid of it completely.
It would seem to be a relative of the noble cultivated oats, but behaves like a malicious enemy of cultures. Nature has endowed it with such vitality that, destroying everything in its path, it can persist in the soil for up to ten years. What farmers do not do to defeat the insidious wild oats, but often all efforts are in vain: wild oats survive over and over again.
Wild oat seeds can sit in the ground for a long time at rest, and then actively germinate even from a depth of 20-30 centimeters. It is known that up to 600 seeds can form on one plant, so the spread of this weed can be catastrophic if not controlled. Moreover, the root system of wild oats develops much more actively (than that of cultivated oats) and quickly dries up the soil around it. Not to mention the stem, which is taller than its fellow, and which, as it grows, shades everything around.

Wild oat seeds: photo
It is known that cereals will be spoiled if oat weed enters them. Even if they are intended for livestock feed. The tough grain of wild oats can cause enormous harm to animals and cause serious inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), as it causes trauma to the mucous membranes of the digestive system.
If the wild oat weed gets into the wheat and is ground into flour, baked goods with it will be dark in color and with an unpleasant taste.
Having such a high degree of survival, wild oats are actively maintaining their population and expanding their boundaries, despite the fact that farmers are constantly fighting with it.
The activity and "corrosiveness" of wild oats is so great that being even with other crops, for example, with peas, it is able to germinate in it.
It takes a lot of patience and perseverance, effort and time in order to prevent the activity of wild oats and achieve its eradication with the help of especially preventive measures. It is desirable - complete!