Avena byzantina K. Koch

is known as Red or Algerian Oats and is a derivative of Avena sterilis subsp. ludoviciana. It is grown for fodder in countries with a Mediterranean-type climate and is cultivated in parts of Pakistan. The rhachilla is not articulated either above the glumes or between the florets and the awn usually lacks a column. There is some evidence of hybridisation between A. byzantina and a wild oat, presumably ludoviciana, pro¬ducing forms with continuous rhachilla between the florets and uncertain rhachilla fracture above the glumes.