98 A MANUAL OF FARM GRASSES 



lish rye grass the florets are without awns or the awns 

 are very short. 



Common Names. — EngHsh rye grass is also known 

 as perennial rye grass. 



On the Pacific Coast, Italian rye grass is often known 

 as Australian rye grass, as the seed was imported from 

 Australia. 



The rye grasses are sometimes known as ray grasses. 

 The name rye grass is a misnomer as the species are not 

 closely related to rye botanically, nor 

 do they resemble rye, except possibly 

 in their early growth. In England 

 the name darnel is used for English 

 rye grass. 



Botanical Names. — English rye 



grass is Lolium perenne L. Lolium is 



14. P e r e n n i a 1 an old Latin name that was taken up 



Rye Grass. The j-^y Ljnnaeus and applied to this gras^. 



spikelets without ^, .^ i • 1 



awns or bristles. The specific name means perennial, a 



name used by Linnaeus to distinguish 

 this grass from an annual species described at the same 

 time. 



Italian rye grass is Lolium muUiflorum Lam. This 

 species was distinguished by Lamarck nearly half a 

 century after the preceding species was named. The 

 specific name, many-flowered, refers to the number of 

 florets in the spikelet. Italian rye grass has also been 

 known as L. italicum A. Br. Some botanists consider 

 the two forms to be but varieties of a single species. The 

 name then would be L. perenne var. muUiflorum Parn. 

 or L. perenne var. italicum Parn. 



