Rye -introduced (*Secale cereale)

Place of origin not known, but probably Europe. Annual. c3.

Family. Poaceae (Grass family).

Other names: Cereal Rye.

Uncommon. Usually found where grain has been spilt.

Identification:

• the flowers are in a dense spike
• the glumes are shorter than the lemma bodies
• the spikelets have two awned lemmas
• the lemmas have curved bristles along the margins
• the leaves are flat
• the ligules are truncate and membranous and 1-2mm long.

The dense flower spike, the bristly appearance and the curved bristles on the lemma margins make this a distinctive grass.

Secale: Rye (Latin); cereale: grain bearing, from Ceres, the goddess of agriculture.

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