Rye Grass - introduced (*Lolium species)

Perennial Rye-grass (*Lolium perenne) and Wimmera Rye Grass (*L. rigidum)

Native to the Mediterranean region (L. rigidum ) and Europe, north Africa and Asia (L. perenne).

Identification:

• the flower cluster a spike, with the spikelets in recesses of the main stalk
• the spiklets have a single glume, about half to equal the lemma length
• the leaves are flat or folded
• the ligules are membranous.

Both are common and widespread. Both are environmental weeds.

Perennial Rye-grass (L. perenne). The glumes are half to three quarters the length of the spikelets. The stems and nodes are green (not red) and the stem is typically about 1mm thick.

Wimmera Rye-grass (L. rigidum.) The glumes are three quarters to equal to the length of the spikelets. The stems and particularly the nodes are reddish and the stems are more than 1mm thick.

Lolium: Latin name for Darnel (Lolium temulentum.); perenne: perennial; rigidum: stiff, inflexible.

---