oat

The oat plant has long, narrow leaves, with the grain hanging downwards. The grain has a high proportion of husk, not easily removed, and therefore relatively little is used as human food.

Type of annual grass, a cereal crop. The plant has long narrow leaves and a stiff straw stem; the panicles of flowers (clusters around the main stem), and later of grain, hang downwards. The cultivated oat (A. sativa) is produced for human and animal food. (Genus Avena.)

It was an early domesticant (as a weed in the wheatfields) and survived cool temperatures where wheat had trouble growing. It is especially hardy in northern Europe.