wild oat

1. often wild oats An annual Eurasian grass (Avena fatua) related to the cultivated oat. Often used in the plural.
2. wild oats Misdeeds and indiscretions committed when young.

Type: Public Company
Address: 3375 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, Colorado 80301, U.S.A.
Telephone: (303) 440-5220
Fax: (303) 928-0022
Web: http://www.wildoats.com
Employees: 9,080
Sales:$838.1 million (2000)
Stock Exchanges:NASDAQ
Ticker Symbol: OATS
Incorporated: 1987
NAIC: Supermarkets and Other Grocery (Except Convenience)

Wild Oats Markets, Inc., is the third largest natural foods grocery chain in the United States. With over 9,000 employees, the company provides organic produce, steroid- and hormone-free meats, bulk foods, vitamins and herbal supplements, and other products in its 110 full-service grocery stores across the nation. Riding a wave of growth in the natural and health foods market, Wild Oats has expanded rapidly since its founding in 1984. Although the company has opened a significant number of new stores, its growth has come mainly through the acquisition of single health food stores or small grocery chains. Its stores, in 23 states, are run under the names Wild Oats Market, Henry's Marketplace, Sun Harvest, and Nature's Fresh; in Canada, the company runs a chain known as Capers. The health food market is a small but profitable niche, dominated by only three significant chains: Wild Oats; market leader Whole Foods Inc.; and Trader Joe's Co., which sells primarily on the East and West Coasts. Hoping to bolster profits, Wild Oats named a new president and chief executive officer in 2001 and announced plans to sell off unprofitable stores and revamp some store formats.

The history of Wild Oats Markets can be traced to 1984, when Michael Gilliland and his wife, Elizabeth Cook, entered the food retail business. While most natural or health food stores are based on the owners' dedication to health foods and a commitment to the environment, Gilliland and Cook got started by purchasing a convenience store, which they bought with cash advances on 17 credit cards and a second mortgage on Gilliland's mother's house. After the purchase of two other convenience stores, the pair decided to buy a natural foods market, Crystal Market, which they felt would prosper in health-conscious Boulder, Colorado. The $300,000 purchase, completed in 1987, thrust the couple into an environment quite different from the junk-food focus of convenience stores, an environment that gradually persuaded Gilliland and Cook to become healthy eaters themselves. In that first store, Gilliland worked the counter, while Cook worked the deli. Soon, the couple had opened another natural foods store, on the south side of Boulder, called Wild Oats Community Market. As the Wild Oats business expanded, a holding company was formed, and Gilliland became chief executive officer and president, while Cook became vice-president and in-house attorney.

The store grew steadily the first few years. By the end of 1991, Gilliland and Cook had opened two other Wild Oats stores in Colorado as well as two in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Another was opened in Albuquerque in early 1992. The company had a stable base in the early 1990s that enabled it to take advantage of a boom in the consumption of natural and organic products. 'It's happening everywhere,' said Elizabeth Bertani, marketing director for New Hope Communications, a publisher of trade magazines for the industry. 'There's been a phenomenal upswing in natural foods consumption.' With $2 million in investor funds, Wild Oats expanded into Arizona and Missouri in 1992 and into California in 1993. With 650 employees and 1993 sales of $50 million, Wild Oats had become the third largest natural foods chain in the United States.

Wild Oats continued to exploit the phenomenal growth in what used to be considered a tiny niche. The Natural Foods Merchandiser reported that sales for the industry were up 18 percent in 1993, to more than $6 billion. And they continued to accelerate. By 1995, industry sales were at $9.17 billion, up 21.5 percent from the previous year. In comparison, food sales as a whole grew only 2.5 percent between 1993 and 1994. (With total food sales at $416 billion, however, natural foods still had plenty of room to grow.) Wild Oats paralleled this industry boom, growing at a rate of 544 percent between 1989 and 1993. In 1994, Inc. magazine included Wild Oats on its list of the 500 fastest growing small companies. As if to underscore the point, the company bought two Kathy's Ranch Markets in Las Vegas in July of that year, for a total of 16 stores in five states.

Wild Oats benefited not only from rapid growth in the industry, but also from the business savvy of Gilliland. Never a slave to one vegetarian ideology, Gilliland designed each store to cater to local tastes. For example, the market in Boulder was completely vegetarian and fostered a down-to-earth image, whereas the Santa Fe store sold meat and high-end, specialty items. In some places Wild Oats was advertised as a gourmet market rather than a natural foods market. 'I'm a great believer in figuring out where customers are and walking with them,' Gilliland said to Michele Conklin of the Rocky Mountain News. 'It doesn't do you any good to put a hard-core vegetarian market in the middle of Pasadena because you're going to go out of business.'

Despite its rapid expansion, Wild Oats in 1994 was still far behind the nation's top-selling natural foods grocery chain, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Markets. With sales of $300 million, Whole Foods also surpassed the next largest competitor, Fresh Fields, based in Rockville, Maryland. Wild Oats' most intense competition, however, challenged it much closer to home: Boulder, Colorado-based Alfalfa's Markets. After years of head-to-head competition, Wild Oats acquired Alfalfa's in 1996.

Founded roughly the same time as Wild Oats, Alfalfa's had followed a similarly rapid growth curve. Mark Retzloff and Sahid Hass Hassan had cobbled together funds from investors, the Small Business Association, and themselves to open Alfalfa's Market in 1983. Retzloff told Claudia Ventura-Abbott that he 'wanted to deliver high-quality, natural foods to people. ... I was very environmentally conscious. It always seemed right to me to be involved in this business. It was a conscious type of work; it was making changes.' The store shelved only products with no artificial additives, then looked for pesticide-free produce and steroid-free beef. The company worked directly with farmers and ranchers to encourage the production of and provide a market for natural products. This commitment led Alfalfa's to work with 1,000 suppliers, compared with the supermarket average of 60 suppliers. Not the usual tiny health food store, Alfalfa's became a full-service grocery store. 'When we started out,' Retzloff said to Ventura-Abbott, 'we wanted to be a transition-type of market. We didn't want to be classified as a health-food store. We wanted to provide an atmosphere that people would feel comfortable in. We knew we'd have to carry a full line of products--produce, fish, meat, deli, and bakery, as well as convenience products, paper goods, and cleaning supplies.' The company added an in-store café in 1985 and hosted a cooking school with professional cooks and guest chefs. By 1989 Alfalfa's was one of the top five natural food retail stores in the United States and had annual sales of $19 million.

In late the 1980s and early 1990s, Whole Foods tried to take over Alfalfa's Markets several times, culminating in a bid in July 1991 that was on the verge of acceptance when Alfalfa's stockholders balked at a condition that 51 percent of Alfalfa's stock be converted to Whole Foods. The company continued to grow, taking advantage of the same market wave that Wild Oats was riding. 'There is a window here. You can't grow if the demand is not there, and now seems to be the time,' Hass Hassan said to Jim Sheeler of the Boulder Daily Camera, 'There is an opportunity now and within the next two years. Five years ago, there were few communities that would support a concept like this. Now there are hundreds.' Alfalfa's reached sales of $30 million in 1991, with 500 employees; it then reached $48 million in sales in 1993. The company arranged additional financing to expand further, adding several stores in Colorado, including stores in Denver, Littleton, Fort Collins, and Vail. By 1994 Alfalfa's had six stores in Colorado and had acquired Vancouver, Canada-based Capers, with two stores and two more soon to open. Alfalfa's competition with Wild Oats then grew more fierce as it opened a store in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1995, where Wild Oats already had a store.

In addition to being based in Boulder, Colorado, Alfalfa's and Wild Oats had much in common. Their commitment to providing wholesome, natural foods was joined with their commitment to their employees and the community. Both stores had profit-sharing plans; at Wild Oats this took the form of bonuses if the employee's store hit its financial goals. Wild Oats also paid $200 annually to each employee toward a 'wellness purchase,' such as massages or a bike. Both companies were involved in the community: Wild Oats paid for one hour out of 40 of employee volunteering and gave 7.5 percent of pretax profits to environmental and social causes.

Despite their similarities, the two companies took pains to distinguish themselves, particularly in Boulder. Gilliland explained to Tammy Tierney of Denver Business Journal, 'They take the high end; we take the low end. We have lower prices, are more low key, and are not so inclined to gourmet items.' Elizabeth Cook expanded on the difference to Tierney, 'We're a hard-core natural foods store. They concentrate on food service. We concentrate on bulk and mainstream grocery.' In addition to competing for customers head-to-head in several cities in the West, the companies competed in their acquisitions. Both reportedly bid for the Kathy's Ranch stores in Las Vegas. 'I think we both learn from each other,' Gilliland said to Sheeler. 'There's a certain amount of competitiveness that has kept us going, and if it were just us or them, I don't think we would have expanded so quickly.'

However much Gilliland appreciated the competition, he was willing to forego it. In 1995 he began negotiations to acquire Alfalfa's. That year, Wild Oats had expanded to 21 stores and had reached sales of $100 million. Although Alfalfa's had only 11 stores that year, it reportedly had also reached $100 million in sales in 1995. The merger would make Wild Oats the second largest natural food chain, outpacing Fresh Fields. The potential merger ran into a couple of problems. New Mexico raised questions about whether the merger would violate antitrust regulations. It eventually recommended that Wild Oats sell one of its stores in New Mexico but did not actively challenge the merger. In addition, Whole Foods Markets reportedly renewed its own efforts to buy Alfalfa's, leading to rumors of a bidding war. Although Whole Foods had lost its previous three bids to buy Alfalfa's, it had the money to make a sweet offer. With 42 stores across the United States and sales of $500 million in 1995, it had the resources to out-muscle Wild Oats.

Wild Oats prevailed, however, and the merger went through. The final agreement stipulated that the company would be based in Boulder and take the name Wild Oats, although existing stores would operate under their original names. The merger created a company with $200 million in sales and 3,600 employees in 39 stores in the United States and Canada. Gilliland remained CEO and Hassan served as president of the new company. The merger was completed in July 1996, with Gilliland and Cook owners of 30 percent, investors owning approximately 50 percent, and Wild Oats and Alfalfa's officers owning the other 20 percent.

After the acquisition of Alfalfa's, Wild Oats concentrated on its next major goal, that of offering shares of the company on the public market. On October 23, 1996, the company achieved that goal, offering 1.69 million shares of stock on the NASDAQ. Speculation had been high that the stock would soar at the initial public offering(IPO), but with an offer price of $25, trading was low and the stock closed the first day at only $25.38. Jon Lieber, a broker at A.G. Edwards, considered the initial price too high, but also speculated that New York's biggest brokers did not understand Wild Oats' philosophy. 'I'm from Manhattan,' he said to John Accola of the Rocky Mountain News, 'and, believe me, health food is definitely few and far between. You walk out of any exchange at noon, and they are inhaling hot dogs, pizzas, and gyros.' Gilliland had expressed some concern about this to Conklin at the Rocky Mountain News before the IPO: 'The biggest challenge will be balancing Wall Street but staying true to our mission. Is Wall Street going to appreciate that we have guest practitioners (such as nutritionists) on staff that we're not making money off of?'

The stock slipped after the IPO, coming to rest for the next few months around $17 to $18 a share. Then, in mid-January 1997, an analyst downgraded her rating of the company two notches based on information that Whole Foods intended to challenge Wild Oats by opening stores in Boulder, Denver, Santa Fe, and Salt Lake City--traditional Wild Oats territory. The stock fell 26 percent in one day, to $13.13.

Wild Oats ended 1996 with strong growth figures. Sales had risen to $192.5 million, largely because of the opening of seven new stores and the acquisition of 13 stores in 1996. The company did report a net loss for the year, however, of $4.5 million. The company attributed the loss to nonrecurring charges related to acquisitions, the closing of some stores, and the consolidation of corporate headquarters after the Alfalfa's acquisition. Without these nonrecurring charges of $7 million, company profits would have been $2.5 million, up from $779,000 in 1995. In addition, same-store sales, which only measure sales from stores the company has owned for at least a full year, rose 3.8 percent, almost double the figure predicted by analysts.

These figures did not raise market confidence, however. The day Wild Oats announced its final quarter numbers, its stock actually fell $.25, to $13.88. Gilliland responded to continued concern about Whole Foods' proposed new stores by citing the double-digit gains in the natural foods market, which he felt assured Wild Oats room for continued growth, even in a more crowded marketplace. In addition, he was quoted by Lisa Greim in the Rocky Mountain News as saying, 'We do very well against them in California. I think Whole Foods is going to be disappointed.'

Despite the apparent lukewarm confidence of the stock market and the specter of increased competition from Whole Foods, Wild Oats continued its aggressive pattern of growth through acquisitions. The company completed a deal with Wholly Harvest in Florida in early 1997, trading stock for two stores. Wild Oats also moved into the Northwest, purchasing two natural food supermarkets in Eugene, Oregon, in March 1997. With the purchase of two stores in Memphis, Tennessee, the number of stores owned by Wild Oats rose to 47, a number the company planned to raise even higher in the coming years.

Competition between Wild Oats and Whole Foods intensified in the late 1990s. Whole Foods opened its Boulder store in early 1998, and Whole Foods' chairman John Mackey announced (as reported in Supermarket News, March 30, 1998) that his firm was 'seeking head-to-head competition.' Not only were both stores in many of the same markets, but they both stocked almost all the same things. Whole Foods made its mark by being bigger. Its stores on average were 24,000 square feet, with a mix of jumbo stores, like the Boulder branch, which was 39,000 square feet. Whole Foods commanded an estimated eight percent of the natural foods market by 1998, while Wild Oats had captured about two percent. Wild Oats distinguished itself from Whole Foods by aiming for a less traditional consumer. It wanted to be perceived as a natural foods store, not a specialty supermarket. Its stores generally followed two formats, a medium and a small. Most of its stores were around 15,000 square feet, and the small-format stores were only about 8,000 square feet. Chain-wide, Wild Oats's most profitable area was its Natural Living department, which sold herbs, vitamins, and personal care products. This one department accounted for almost one-quarter of the company's sales. After Whole Foods opened its huge Boulder store in 1998, Wild Oats announced it would open new, larger stores, of about 25,000 square feet, while also continuing to build small-format stores in certain markets. Meanwhile, by the end of 1998, rumors appeared in the business press that Whole Foods was ready to acquire Wild Oats. While Wild Oats executives refused to comment, Whole Foods CEO Mackey told Supermarket News (November 16, 1998) that it had no plans to buy its rival.

Wild Oats continued to make its own acquisitions, buying up two smaller chains in 1999. It paid $21.5 million for a Texas chain of nine Sun Harvest Farms, and then took over the San Diego chain of farmer's market-type stores called Henry's Marketplace. All told, Wild Oats merged with or acquired 41 stores in 1999. By 2000, Wild Oats had grown to over 100 stores. And the natural foods category continued to boom, keeping up a growth rate of close to 20 percent annually. Wild Oats's sales growth outdid the industry. Sales hit $721 million in 1999, a 36 percent rise over the year previous, and profits too grew 23 percent, to $17.8 million. A growing customer base and high mark-ups in the profitable niche seemed to promise great things for Wild Oats. Yet in some ways the chain was clearly not doing as well as Whole Foods. In terms of sales per square foot, the average traditional supermarket brought in $487. Wild Oats topped this easily, bringing in $538 per square foot, but Whole Foods was managing to make $826 per square foot.

By mid-2000, Wild Oats began to talk about adopting a new strategy, planning first to increase the average size of its stores, bringing them up to between 28,000 and 30,000 square feet. The company also decided to stock a different mix of products, bringing in more of the gourmet items the consumers were demanding as well as fresh bakery items and flowers. Also among the company's early growth plans was the expansion of the Henry's Markets chain, from 12 units to 18 by the end of 2001.

By the end of 2000, however, financial results were less than impressive, and Wild Oats management decided to close eight stores and take a $14--$15 million write-down. The company also said it would move to discount more items, while increasing its advertising budget. Speculation arose again that the chain was up for sale. Wild Oats reported a fourth quarter loss in 2000 and predicted flat sales for 2001 because of the store closings. The firm ended 2000 with sales of over $838 million, but it posted a net loss of $15 million. Comparable store sales, a measure of sales at stores that have been open for at least a year, also fell off, dipping 2.6 percent for 2000. Without fanfare, Wild Oats named a new president and CEO in March 2001. The company chose Perry D. Odak, who had previously held the same post at Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., the well-known ice cream company. The company continued its expansion, with plans to open ten new stores in 2001. One of these was a new prototype, a 26,000-square-foot store that would devote 20 percent of its floor space to made-to-order food.

Principal Subsidiaries

Wild Oats of Texas, Inc.

Principal Competitors

Whole Foods Market Inc.; Trader Joe's Co.

Further Reading

Accola, John, 'On Wall Street, It's Mild Oats,' Rocky Mountain News, October 24, 1996, pp. 1B, 16B.

Brown, Adrienne, 'Real Deals,' Colorado Business, March 1997, pp. 20--25.

Conklin, Michele, 'Growing His Oats,' Rocky Mountain News, July 7, 1996, pp. 1--2, 11--14.

Gonzalez, Erika, 'Food Stores Merger Gets Scrutiny,' Boulder Daily Camera, March 15, 1996.

------, 'New Suitor in Grocery Merger,' Boulder Daily Camera, January 18, 1996, p. 1B.

Greim, Lisa, 'Wild Oats Gains, Stock Falls,' Rocky Mountain News, January 25, 1997.

'Integration Woes Lead to Losses at Wild Oats,' Supermarket News, February 26, 2001, p. 44.

Kelly, Erin, 'Health-Food Chains Spar for Baby-Boomers,' Fortune, April 3, 2000, p. 56.

Lopez, Christopher, 'Alfalfa's Natural Up North,' Denver Post, July 24, 1994.

Parker, Penny, 'Wild Oats Sowing New Seeds,' Denver Post, November 18, 1994, pp. 1C, 5C.

Sheeler, Jim, 'Wild Oats, Alfalfa's Become Power Players with Acquisition,' Boulder Daily Camera, July 26, 1994.

Smith, Jerd, 'Alfalfa's, Wild Oats Expanding Rapidly with Venture Funds,' Denver Business Journal, January 24, 1992.

Smith, Kerri S., 'Wild Oats Jarred,' Denver Post, January 15, 1997, pp. 1E, 8E.

Springer, Jon, 'Food for Thought Workers Vote for Union,' Supermarket News, April 10, 2000, p. 4.

Sutton, David, and Jennifer Lindsey, 'Specialty Food Partners Make Profit,' Denver Post, November 23, 1985, p. 2E.

Tierney, Tammy, 'Markets Cash in on Buyers' Health Kick,' Denver Business Journal, April 10, 1992.

Ventura-Abbott, Claudia, 'Alfalfa's Laying Plans for Healthful Expansion,' Boulder County Business Report, October 1989, pp. 18, 36.

'Whole Foods, Wild Oats Rivalry Intensifying,' Supermarket News, March 30, 1998, p. 1.

'Wild Oats: It May Be Time to Reap,' Business Week, November 16, 1998, p. 190.

Zwiebach, Elliot, 'Whole Foods: No Talks with Wild Oats,' Supermarket News, November 16, 1998, p. 4.

------, 'Wild Oats CEO Sees Potential for Growth,' Supermarket News, May 11, 1998, p. 4.

— Susan Windisch Brown; Update: A. Woodward

Description

Wild oat (Avena sativa) is a member of the grass family native to Scotland. There are approximately 25 varieties of the oat plants, and oat is now grown throughout the world. Avena sativa is the species that is used in herbal remedies. The mature seed of the oat plant is used as a cereal grain. However, much of the plant is used to maintain good health and to remedy disease conditions.

Before maturity oat seeds are in a liquid phase, and they are collected for use in tonics that treat nervous conditions. Wild oat is usually in this stage for two weeks during August.

The seeds mature in the late summer and early fall. If harvested then, the seeds are rolled or ground into oatmeal. If the seeds aren't harvested at that time, they are referred to as groats.

Once the seeds are harvested, the straw from the plant can be cut up and brewed as oatstraw tea. And the husks surrounding the seeds are used as oat bran.

The only part of this grain that is not used in alternative medicine is the root.

Wild oat is also known as oat, groats, oatstraw, and straw.

General Use

Avena sativa is Latin for wild oat, a name that does not provide the complete picture of this grain's use in alternative and conventional medicine. The old saying "sowing your wild oats" is based on the observation that stallions given wild oat experienced greater sex drives. Wild oat was thought to have the same effect on men, although that has never been scientifically proven. Nevertheless, dietary supplements containing wild oats are still advertised and sold as boosting the male sex drive.

Wild oat may not be an aphrodisiac or a means of promoting fertility, but the grain has numerous other health benefits.

In the past, people recovering from illnesses ate oatmeal because it was easily digested. Doctors advised overworked people to drink a beverage consisting of wine and oats. The drink was said to restore nervous energy. Oatmeal also served as a treatment for skin conditions.

In contemporary times, oatmeal is acknowledged as a rich source of bran and fiber. The grain is associated with treating high cholesterol. Whole oat products with at least 0.02 oz (0.75 g) of soluble fiber in each serving can reduce the risk of heart disease. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed manufacturers to make that statement, and add that the fiber product must be part of a diet that is low in cholesterol and saturated fat. A study published in the summer of 2002 reported that oat cereal is superior to wheat cereal in lowering LDL cholesterol levels in adult males.

A new use for the beta-glucans (complex carbohydrates) contained in oats is in the manufacture of functional foods for the management of Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. Functional foods are a relatively recent category of foods. They are not currently defined by any government regulatory body, but are commonly understood to be any potentially healthful food or food ingredient that may provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients it contains. Functional foods are sometimes called nutraceuticals.

Oat fiber is also used as a substrate, or growing medium, for Lactobacillus and other bacteria that are introduced into the digestive tract of patients suffering from severe infections of the pancreas. The "good" bacteria in the intestines help the body to fight off infections elsewhere in the digestive system. The oat fiber provides the bacteria with nourishment without causing any side effects to the patient.

Furthermore, pregnant women can benefit from the calcium and other trace nutrients found in oat straw.

Wild oat is recognized as a natural antidepressant and a mild sedative. It acts like a tonic to the nervous system, providing both nourishment and balance. Oat tea or an oat Bach flower remedy is used as a nervine (preparation given to calm the nerves).

In these capacities, wild oat can be used to treat conditions including headaches, depression, tension, insomnia, anxiety, and feelings of sadness. Wild oat is also a remedy for nerve pain and chronic fatigue.

Oatstraw can be used to ease emotional anxieties and to treat skin conditions such as rashes, psoriasis, burns, eczema, warts, and insect bites.

An oatmeal pack may be used to treat skin conditions. The oatmeal facial is a popular treatment for promoting smoother skin because the textured oat sloughs off dead skin when used as a mask or scrub. An oatstraw bath can provide more relief for skin conditions and neuralgia.

Wild oat is also believed to help with nicotine withdrawal, a remedy recommended by German doctors. The wild oat extract is said to be effective when used for this purpose, and oat cereal is also said to be helpful.

Preparations

Wild oat is available in various forms and is used in various alternative medicine traditions such as homeopathy. Commercial preparations include oatstraw tea, tincture, and the wild oat Bach flower remedy (a liquid concentrate called a stock). The packaged oatmeal sold in the grocery store can also be used for treatments.

Wild oat tea, which is also known as an infusion, is made by pouring 1 c (240 ml) of boiling water over 1–3 tsp (1.5–3 g) of the dried straw. The mixture is steeped for 10–15 minutes and then strained. Wild oat tea should be drunk three times a day.

When wild oat tincture is used, the dosage is 1 oz (1 mL) taken three times a day.

Wild oat can be combined with skullcap and mugwort to provide relief from depression and to improve sleep.

A Flower Remedy

Flower remedies are liquid concentrates made by soaking flowers in spring water. Also known as flower essences, 38 remedies were developed by homeopathic physician Edward Bach during the 1930s. Bach's wild oat remedy is taken to resolve conditions such as career anxiety and uneasiness about a lack of direction or commitment.

The daily dosage of the Bach wild oat flower remedy is 2–4 drops (1/8–1/4 ml) taken four times each day. The drops can be placed under the tongue or added to a glass of water. Another remedy is to add some stock to the bath water.

Oat Baths

An oatstraw bath can provide relief for irritated skin and neuralgia. A bath is prepared by boiling 1 lb (500 g) of shredded oatstraw in 2 qt (0.95 L) of water. After boiling for 20 minutes, this mixture is strained and used in the bath. Another option is to place cooked rolled oats in a bag and the bag is put in the bath.

Precautions

Wild oat has not been associated with any health risks when taken in proper dosages, according to Physician's Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines, the 1998 book based on the findings of Germany's Commission E. The commission is the German counterpart of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The European group's findings about herbal remedies were published in a 1997 monograph.

However, people diagnosed with gluten sensitivity (celiac disease) should consult with a doctor or health practitioner to determine if they can safely take wild oat internally.

Side Effects

There are no known side effects associated with designated dosages of wild oat.

Interactions

There are no known interactions associated with the use of wild oat and other medications or herbs.

Resources

Books

Duke, James A. The Green Pharmacy. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, Inc., 1997.

Keville, Kathi. Herbs for Health and Healing. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, Inc., 1996.

PDR for Herbal Medicines. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, 1998.

Ritchason, Jack. The Little Herb Encyclopedia. Pleasant Grove, UT: Woodland Health Books, 1995.

Squier, Thomas Broken Bear with Lauren David Peden. Herbal Folk Medicine. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997.

Tyler, Varro and Steven Foster. Tyler's Honest Herbal. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Herbal Press, 1999.

Periodicals

Davy, B. M., K. P. Davy, R. C. Ho, et al. "High-Fiber Oat Cereal Compared with Wheat Cereal Consumption Favorably Alters LDL-Cholesterol Subclass and Particle Numbers in Middle-Aged and Older Men." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 76 (August 2002): 351-358.

Jenkins, A. L., D. J. Jenkins, U. Zdravkovic, et al. "Depression of the Glycemic Index by High Levels of Beta-Glucan Fiber in Two Functional Foods Tested in Type 2 Diabetes." European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 56 (July 2002): 622-628.

Olah, A., T. Belagyi, A. Issekutz, et al. "Randomized Clinical Trial of Specific Lactobacillus and Fibre Supplement to Early Enteral Nutrition in Patients with Acute Pancreatitis." British Journal of Surgery 89 (September 2002): 1103-1107.

Organizations

American Botanical Council. P.O. Box 201660, Austin, TX 78720. (512) 331-8868.

American Dietetic Association. 216 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60606. (312) 899-0040. .

Herb Research Foundation. 1007 Pearl St., Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80302. (303) 449-2265. .

Other

Ask Dr. Weil. 2000. .

MotherNature.com Health Encyclopedia. 2000. .

[Article by: Liz Swain; Rebecca J. Frey, PhD]

A genus of cereal plants of the grass family Poaceae (Graminae).

• A. pubescens — oatgrass may cause ergotism (see rye ergot1) when infested with Claviceps purpurea.
• A. sativa — cereal oats, a major feed for animals as grain hay or grazing crop. May cause poisoning by nitrite, a nutritional deficiency of magnesium leading to hypomagnesemia, or mycotoxicosis when the crop is infested with unspecified fungi. See also oat grain.

For the former town in California, see Avena, California.

Avena
Common Wild Oat, Avena fatua Note extreme similarity to Common Oat
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Monocots (unranked): Commelinids Order: Poales Family: Poaceae Subfamily: Pooideae Tribe: Aveneae Genus: Avena L.
Species
Around one dozen, see text

The oats (Avena) are a genus of 10-15 species of true grasses (family Poaceae).^[1] They are native to Europe, Asia and northwest Africa. One species is widely cultivated elsewhere, and several have become naturalized in many parts of the world. All oats have edible seeds, though they are small and hard to harvest in most species.

Contents 1 Ecology 2 Species 2.1 Cultivated oats 2.2 Wild oats 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 References

Ecology

Avena species, including cultivated oats, are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Rustic Shoulder-knot and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

For diseases of oats, see List of oats diseases.

Species

Cultivated oats

One species is of major commercial importance as a cereal grain. Four other species are grown as crops of minor or regional importance.

• Avena sativa – (Common) Oat, a cereal crop of global importance and the species commonly referred to as "Oats"
• Avena abyssinica – Ethiopian Oat, "a half-weed, half-crop confined to the highlands of Ethiopia."^[2]
• Avena byzantina, a minor crop in the Near and Middle East
• Avena nuda – Naked Oat or Hulless Oat, plays much the same role in Europe as does A. abyssinica in Ethiopia. It is sometimes included in A. sativa and was widely grown in Europe before the latter replaced it. As its nutrient content is somewhat better than that of Common Oat, A. nuda has increased in significance in recent years, especially in organic farming
• Avena strigosa – Lopsided Oat or Bristle Oat, grown for fodder in parts of Western Europe and Brazil

Wild oats

These species, called wild oats or oat-grasses, are nuisance weeds in cereal crops, as, being grasses like the crop, they cannot be chemically removed; any herbicide that would kill them would also damage the crop.

• Avena barbata – Slender Wild Oat
• Avena brevis – Short Oat
• Avena fatua – Common Wild Oat
• Avena maroccana – Moroccan Oat
• Avena occidentalis – Western Oat
• Avena pubescens – Downy Oat-grass
• Avena pratensis – Meadow Oat-grass
• Avena spicata – Poverty Oat-grass
• Avena sterilis – Winter Wild Oat

"Sowing wild oats" is a phrase used since at least the 16th century; it appears in a 1542 tract by Thomas Beccon, a Protestant clergyman from Norfolk. Apparently, a similar expression was used in Roman Republican times already, e.g. by Plautus. The origin of the expression is the fact that wild oats, notably A. fatua, are a major weed in oat farming. Among European cereal grains, oats are hardest to tell apart from their weed relatives, which look almost alike but yield little grain. The life cycle of A. fatua is nearly synchronous with that of Common Oat (see also Vavilovian mimicry) and in former times it could only be kept at bay by checking one's oat plants one by one and hand-weeding the wild ones when they were in flower but the grains had not ripened yet, lest the wild oats seeded themselves out. Consequently, "sowing wild oats" became a way to describe pointless activities. Given the reputation of oat grain to have invigorating properties and the obvious connection between plant seeds and human "seed", it is not surprising that the meaning of the phrase shifted towards more or less explicitly referring to the sexual liaisons of an unmarried young male, possibly resulting in children born out of wedlock.^[3]

See also

• List of Poaceae genera

Footnotes

1. ^ Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. (2008). "The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references". The Grass Genera of the World. http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/avena.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-19. 
2. ^ Zohary & Hopf (2000): p.78
3. ^ Quinion (1999)

References

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1. ^ Watson L, Dallwitz MJ. (2008). "The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references". The Grass Genera of the World. http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/avena.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-19. 
2. ^ Zohary & Hopf (2000): p.78
3. ^ Quinion (1999)

• Quinion, Michael (1999): World Wide Words: Sow one's wild oats. Web posted 1999-NOV-27. Retrieved 2007-OCT-17.
• Zohary, Daniel & Hopf, Maria (2000): Domestication of plants in the Old World (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

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