Wild Oats (Uvularia sessilifolia), also known as Sessile Bellwort, is found in rich woods in the eastern US.  It’s easy to walk right past it, since the flowers dangle down below grass-like leaves.

Peterson’s Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants warns against collecting unless it is very abundant. If you find large patches, gather young shoots and remove the leaves. Boil the young shoots for 10 minutes, and serve as you would asparagus. I’ve never tried it, never found a big enough patch to feel confident about collecting and still leaving some for next year.

I can’t find any reference that tells why this plant from the Lily Family is called “oats” at all.  Peterson’s Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs lists this plant saying Native Americans used a root tea for various ailments.  It also lists another different species from the Grasses Family with the common name “Wild Oats” –  Avena fatua, the species from which cultivated oats derive.  That one it makes sense to call wild oats!

I did a little searching on the Internet to try to determine where the phrase “to sow wild oats” came from.  There were plenty of colorful definitions for the phrase, but the only hint at its origin that I found was this:

To sow wild oats means ‘to behave foolishly’ or ‘indulge in excess while one is young.’ This has been an English idiom since the 16th century, and it refers to the sowing of inferior wild grain instead of superior cultivated grain, alluding to sexual promiscuity. It suggests that such is something that one will grow out of. The phrase likely arose in one language (English or Spanish) and was translated into the other. (Melanie and Mike, Take our Word for It, Source)

I must assume the wild oats the young and foolish sow are the Avena species, not the Uvularia.  As for the other behaviors… well…  hmm…