Common Name: Abyssinian Oat

General Information

Avena abyssinica is an erect, annual grass growing up to 1.5 metres tall[].
The plant provides an edible seed that is used locally. It is sometimes cultivated for this seed, especially in Ethiopia, and is also tolerated as a weed in barley and wheat crops[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical northeast Africa - Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritraea; Arabian Peninsula - Yemen.

Habitat

A weed of arable land, especially in wheat and barley fields, found at elevations of 1,700 - 3,000 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Wind
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A plant of higher elevations in the drier tropics, where it is found at elevations of 1,700 - 3,000 metres. It should be possible to grow it as a spring-sown annual in the temperate zone.
Requires a sunny position. Succeeds in any moderately fertile soil in full sun[]. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.3 to 7.6.
A triploid species[].
Oats are in general easily grown plants but, especially when grown on a small scale, the seed is often completely eaten out by birds. Some sort of netting seems to be the best answer on a garden scale.

Edible Uses

Seed - cooked[, , ]. It can be roasted and eaten as a snack[, ]. It is also mixed with barley seeds to make a pancake-like bread known as 'Injera'; a local beer, known as 'tella'; and other products[, ].
The seed has a floury texture and a mild, somewhat creamy flavour. It can be used as a staple food crop in either savoury or sweet dishes. The seed can be cooked whole, though it is more commonly ground into a flour and used as a cereal in all the ways that oats are used, especially as a porridge but also to make biscuits, sourdough bread etc. The seed can also be sprouted and eaten raw or cooked in salads, stews etc.
The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.
The seed ripens in the latter half of summer and, when harvested and dried, can store for several years.

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The straw has a wide range of uses such as for bio-mass, fibre, mulch, paper-making and thatching[]. Some caution is advised in its use as a mulch since oat straw can infest strawberries with stem and bulb eelworm.

This species is of potential value in breeding programmes for the cultivated oats (Avena sativa), in particular it could pass on pest resistance and drought tolerance.

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in early spring or in the autumn. Only just cover the seed. Germination should take place within 2 weeks.