Collectively known as the oats, they include some species which have been cultivated for thousands of years as a food source for humans and livestock.

Several species have become naturalized in many parts of the world, and are regarded as invasive weeds where they compete with crop production.

The costs of this herbicide and the length of time it must be used to reduce the weed are significant, with seeds able to lie dormant for up to 10 years.

[4][11][12][13][14] Hundreds of taxa have been included in Avena at one time in the past but are now considered better suited to other genera:[4] Agrostis, Aira, Ampelodesmos, Anisopogon, Arrhenatherum, Avenula, Bromus, Calamagrostis, Capeochloa, Centropodia, Corynephorus, Danthonia, Danthoniastrum, Deschampsia, Festuca, Gaudinia, Helictochloa, Helictotrichon, Hierochloe, Lachnagrostis, Lolium, Parapholis, Pentameris, Periballia, Peyritschia, Rytidosperma, Schizachne, Sphenopholis, Stipa, Stipagrostis, Tenaxia, Tricholemma, Triraphis, Trisetaria, Trisetum, Tristachya and Ventenata.

"Sowing wild oats" is a phrase used since at least the 16th century; it appears in a 1542 tract by Thomas Beccon, a Protestant clergyman from Norfolk.