An important new diploid Avena species discovered on the Canary Islands

Abstract

Avena canariensis sp. nov., 2n = 14, is described from the Canary Islands. Its spikelets have non-disarticulating upper florets and bidentate lemmas, suggesting the evolutionary sequence: A, canariensis (2x) → A. magna (4x) → A. sterilis (6x). Hence it is a putative ancestor of the 6x cultivated oats. The karyotype consists of two pairs of satellited chromosomes, four pairs with median and one pair with submedian centromeres, suggesting affinity with the A genome diploid avenas. It was found on a diversity of natural and disturbed sites in the uplands of Fuerteventura, but not as a weed of field crops.