''Lolium perenne'', common name perennial ryegrass, English ryegrass, winter ryegrass, or ray grass, is a

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

from the family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

. It is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, but is widely cultivated and naturalised around the world.

Description

The plant is a low-growing, tufted, hairless grass, with a bunching (or

tillering A tiller is a lever to provide leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder of a ship. Tiller may also refer to: Animals * Tiller (horse) (born 1974), an American thoroughbred racehorse Archery *Tiller, the stock of a crossbow *Tiller, the diff ...

) growth habit. The leaves are dark green, smooth and glossy on the lower surface, with untoothed parallel sides and prominent parallel veins on the upper surface. The leaves are folded lengthwise in bud (unlike the rolled leaves of Italian ryegrass, ''

Lolium multiflorum ''Lolium multiflorum'' (Italian rye-grass, annual ryegrass) is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, though its precise native range is unknown. It is a herbaceous annual, biennial, or perennial grass that is grown for silage, and as a cover ...

'') with a strong central keel, giving a flattened appearance. The

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...

is very short and truncated and often difficult to see. The small white auricles grip the stem at the base of the leaf blade. Leaf sheaths at the base are usually tinged pink and hairless. Stems grow up to 90 cm. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

is unbranched, with spikelets on alternating sides edgeways-on to the stem. Each

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

has only a single

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flow ...

, on the side away from the stem, and between four and 14

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

s without awns, unlike Italian ryegrass. The

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s are pale yellow, and the plant flowers from May to November. Perennial ryegrass has a fibrous root system, with thick main roots and thinner lateral branches. Roots are usually

arbuscular mycorrhiza An arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) (plural ''mycorrhizae'') is a type of mycorrhiza in which the symbiont fungus (''Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi'', or AMF) penetrates the cortical cells of the roots of a vascular plant forming arbuscules. Arbuscul ...

Distribution

Perennial ryegrass is native to Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and eastwards to central Asia. As a useful species of grass for fodder and grazing livestock, it has been taken by farmers settling in new areas including North America, South Africa and Australia. It can be used to prevent erosion and to stabilise soils, as well as creating a hardwearing turf for lawns and golf courses. With its great ability to set seed, its ease of germination and vigour, it has spread from the fields where it has been planted to roadsides, trackways, footpaths, wasteland, river banks and sand dunes. In countries where it has been introduced, it may be regarded as an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

that competes with native plants.

Cultivation and uses

Perennial ryegrass is an important pasture and forage plant, and is used in many pasture seed mixes. In fertile soil, it produces a high grass yield, and in Britain and Ireland, it is frequently sown for short-term ley grassland, often with red or white

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

(''

Trifolium pratense ''Trifolium pratense'' (from Latin prātum, meaning meadow), red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family, Fabaceae. It is native to the Old World, but planted and naturalised in many other regions. Description ...

'' or '' T. repens''). In Britain, it is also used as an indicator of nonspecies-rich

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

, as it outcompetes the rarer plants and grasses, especially in fertile soils. Agri-environment schemes such as the

Countryside Stewardship Scheme The Countryside Stewardship Scheme was originally an agri-environment scheme run by the United Kingdom Government set up in 1991. In its original form it expired in 2014. It was relaunched for the Rural Development Programme England (RDPE) 2014-202 ...

, Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme, and

Environmental Stewardship Environmental stewardship (or planetary stewardship) refers to the responsible use and protection of the natural environment through active participation in conservation efforts and sustainable practices by individuals, small groups, nonprofit org ...

give funding to species-rich grasslands that do not have an abundance of ryegrass. Selected seed mixes are used extensively for sports pitches, especially winter sports in temperate climates, because of its wear resistance and ability to regenerate. It is commonly used in the southwest United States to overseed winter lawns. Bermudagrass is a typical summertime grass in states such as Arizona, since it is able to withstand the high temperatures. However, bermudagrass goes dormant during the cooler winter months. Rather than have brown lawns, many homeowners, public areas, and

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

s overseed these lawns with perennial ryegrass in early to mid-September. It is also the grass used on the courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon. Since 2001, the courts have been sown with 100% perennial ryegrass to "improve durability and strengthen the sward to withstand better the increasing wear of the modern game".

Similar species

Italian ryegrass, ''

'', differs in the fact that each scale in the spikelet has a long bristle at the top. Its stem is also round rather than folded. Couch, ''

Elymus repens ''Elymus repens'', commonly known as couch grass, is a very common perennial species of grass native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion control, b ...

'', has spikelets set on the broadside of the stem rather than edge on.''Reader's Digest Nature Lovers Library Field Guide To Wild Flowers Of Britain'', 1998, page 416

Gallery

File:Engels raaigras (Lolium perenne).jpg, File:Engels raaigras spruiten (Lolium perenne tillers).jpg, File:Engels raaigras vruchten (Lolium perenne fruits).jpg, File:Perennial Ryegrass Nursery.jpg, Perennial ryegrass breeding nursery

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment for "festuca perennis" which lists lolium perenne as a synonymPhoto gallery
{{Authority control Pooideae Flora of Europe Flora of Estonia Flora of the United Kingdom Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Grasses of Lebanon