Avena is a genus of grass plants that includes the oats; it is also the word in Spanish and Italian for the common oat. All of the oats have edible seeds, but their suitability as a crop varies.
The major species of Avena are:
- Common oats, Avena sativa, a cereal crop cultivated worldwide
- Ethiopian oats, Avena abyssinica, the Ethiopian oat, native to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti
- Red oats, Avena byzantina, a small crop in Greece and Middle East
- Hulless oats, Avena nuda, a specialty crop grown in some parts of Europe and the Americas
- Black oats, Avena strigosa, grown for fodder, though once cultivated as a grain