Self-Burial of Wild Oat Florets
1985
Somody, C. N. | Nalewaja, J. D. | Miller, S. D.
Survival of wild oat (Avena fatua L. and A. sterilis L.) florets is greater if the florets overwinter below the soil surface. Therefore, field experiments were conducted to determine wild oat floret selfburial (burial without tillage) as affected by environment and floret charadteristics at Fargo, ND in 1978 and 1979. Soil cracking was necessary for self-burial. Self-burial was less on Spottswood sandy loam (fine-loamy over sandy, mixed pachic Udic Haploborolls) than Fargo silty clay (fine, montmorillonitic, frigid Vertic Haplaquolls), which cracked more than the sandy soil. The geniculate awn was necessary for maximum wild oat floret self-burial. Self-burial did not require rain and was not impeded when straw was present on the soil surface. Florets of A. sterilis Accession 278, characterized by a slender awn approximately 2.5 cm long with no bend, were less effective at self-burial and lateral movement along the soil surface than florets of Accessions 318 and 9, both characterized by a longer thick awn with a distinct bend. Avena sterilis Accession 318 had 73% self-burial even with the primary and secondary florets connected. Awn length and thickness and floret length of 1200 wild oat accessions were variable, but 98.5% of the accessions had florets with a distinctly bent awn.
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