The botanical name for the common oat, sold in supplement form as a nutritive and gently stimulating preparation. Herbal tradition ascribes to oat straw and seed extracts a nourishing, calming-yet-energizing action, recommending them for nervous exhaustion and convalescence, claims that modern evidence supports only weakly. Nutritionally, the distinction matters less than the whole grain itself: oats as food deliver beta-glucan fiber proven to lower cholesterol, along with protein, B vitamins, and minerals, benefits far better established than any supplement claim. The supplement trade’s use of the Latin name lends a scientific aura to what is essentially an oat extract. Consumers seeking oats’ real benefits will find them more reliably, and more deliciously, in a bowl of porridge than in a capsule.