This is what oats look like before the kernels (groats) are separated from the hulls and stalks. Admittedly, you won’t see them this way in stores, but we thought you’d like to see what they look like fresh from the fields. A groat is another name for a grain kernel.
Then, what does an oat plant look like?
Oats are annual plants and often reach 1.5 metres (5 feet) in height. The long leaves have rounded sheaths at the base and a membranous ligule (small appendage where the leaf joins the stem). The flowering and fruiting structure, or inflorescence, of the plant is made up of numerous branches bearing florets that produce the caryopsis, or one-seeded fruit.
As oats are evaluated by processors for milling quality, the important characteristics of good oats are generally high test weight, bright groat color, high groat percent, low oil content, and high protein and beta-glucan content. Usually, oats can be harvested about 12 weeks after they are planted.
You may be thinking “What is an oat?”
The oat ( Avena sativa ), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals).
Unripe oat fields start off a soft pale green, then turn gold, but usually retaining a characteristic green stripe along the tractor marks. A by-product of the grain, used for animal feed and bedding. Barley straw is very prickly, as my memory of childhood games in a barn full of the stuff will attest, but happily eaten by equines, as is oat straw.
Do oats grow in spikes?
Oats don’t grow in spikes like wheat, barley and rye, but in what are called panicles. Oats are a hardy cereal that can withstand poor soil conditions in which other crops are unable to thrive.
What is the size of the stem of an oat?
, and oat stem. Left-Distance from the seed to tip of the head is about 5 cm. (under 2 inches ). Stem is separated slightly from the node to show position. Right-Closeup of growing point and.