The Pedigree of German Oat Cultivars (Avena sativa L.) and the Occurrence of Fatuoids

A pedigree of German oat cultivars is presented. Accordingly, the cultivars can be assigned to a few distinct lineages originating in crosses between initial landraces. The parentage of white/yellow cultivars includes crosses with black oat. Fatuoids were found in 25 German and foreign cultivars. Every lineage of the pedigree comprises cultivars known for forming fatuoids as well as cultivars up-to-now fatuoid free. Fatuoids were found in old and new cultivars. The difficulty of detecting fatuoids in field inspection or seed testing is discussed. The results show that the origin of fatuoids is not related to the lineage of the corresponding cultivars. The hypotheses on the origin of fatuoids arc discussed in relation to the oat pedigree.