Herb. No. 115 · Poaceae
Cool-season cereal of temperate Eurasia, a porridge and straw crop worldwide.
Native · Europe · West Asia
Native Also grownNow a garden plant worldwide
LegalGentleplant
Oatstraw
Avena sativa
The same plant as breakfast — milky tops and straw as a traditional nervine food-tea.
Oat is a cool-season cereal. The grain is porridge. Herbalists also cut the green, milky tops (and later the straw) as a gentle mineral nervine. This is food-adjacent, not a hypnotic. People with celiac disease need certified oats; the plant itself has no gluten but the mill often does.
Flavor
Green hay, milk, a little sweetness. Straw tea is quieter than the grain.
Parts used
Milky tops · Straw · Ripe grain as food
Helpful
- A true food plant
- Easy from a packet of seed
Cautions
- Mill contamination with wheat
- A tea, not a sedative