Wild Oat
Avena fatua
Wild oat is random, a weed of arable crops
That may or may not be in any field.
It is very obvious, standing high above the barley.
Any farmer would be glad for you to take
As much as possible, and some will always escape.
Found poem from John Crossley the Plant Recorder for Orkney
photograph: specimen from Sutton’s Vasculum of Grasses and Seeds circa 1900, Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
WHEN THE GRASS DANCES 