Oats, about 25 species in the world, are distributed in temperate and cold zones of Eurasia; There are 7 species and 2 varieties in China, most of which are cultivated species. Most species of this genus are food and feed with great nutritional value; Cereals can be used as concentrated feed for flour, porridge, rice and livestock; Husks, stems and leaves are important feeds for cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock; Straw is also a high-quality raw material for papermaking.

The two most common oats in the world are skinned oats and naked oats.

There are also cultivated varieties such as Mediterranean oats and sand oats. The rest are mostly wild species or weeds in the field. Common wild oats are common wild oats and southern wild oats.

1967 pointed out that "naked oat type is a unique geographical type, which was produced by mutation in the border area between China and Mongolia. This birthplace can be considered as the primary gene center of naked oats. " Chinese experts in oat genetics and breeding used common cultivated oats and wild red oats to hybridize with large-grain naked oats respectively, and all of them were successful. The hybrid offspring selfed, indicating that their genetic relationship is very close.

Accordingly, there are 4 species and 2 varieties of Avena in China, which are wild species and wild relatives of Avena cultivated in China.

Wild species and wild relatives of oat cultivated in China.