MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



275 



1. Lolium perenne L. Perennial 

 ryegrass. (Fig. 370, B.) Short-lived 

 perennial; culms erect or decumbent 

 at the commonly reddish base, 30 to 

 60 cm. tall; auricles at summit of 

 sheath, minute or obsolete; foliage 

 glossy, the blades 2 to 4 mm. wide; 

 spike often subfalcate, mostly 15 to 

 25 cm. long; spikelets mostly 6- to 

 10-flowered; lemmas 5 to 7 mm. long, 

 awnless or nearly so. % — Mead- 

 ows and waste places, Newfoundland 

 to Alaska and south to Virginia and 

 California, occasionally farther south ; 

 cultivated in meadows, pastures, and 

 lawns, introduced from Europe. Also 

 called English ryegrass. Lolium 

 perenne var. cristatum Pers. Spikes 

 ovate, the spikelets crowded, hori- 

 zontally spreading. % — Open 

 ground, Wilmington, Del., and Wash- 

 ington, D. C; ballast, Salem and 

 Eola, Oreg.; adventive from Europe. 



2. Lolium multiflorum Lam. 

 Italian ryegrass. (Fig. 370, A.) 

 Differing from L. perenne in the more 

 robust habit, to 1 m. tall, pale or 

 yellowish at base; auricles at summit 

 of sheaths prominent; spikelets 10- 

 to 20-flowered, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; 

 lemmas 7 to 8 mm. long, at least 

 the upper awned. % (L. italicum 

 A. Br.) — About the same range as 

 L. perenne, especially common on the 

 Pacific coast where it is often called 

 Australian ryegrass. Introduced from 

 Europe. Closely related to L. perenne, 

 but generally recognized as distinct 

 agriculturally. A much reduced form 

 has been called forma micro stachyum 

 Uechtrit z . — California . 



Lolium multiflorum var. ramo- 

 sum Guss. A peculiar form, the spike 

 transformed into a narrow many- 

 flowered panicle. Ql — Linn 

 County, Oreg., waif. Europe. 



3. Lolium temulentum L. Darnel. 

 (Fig. 371.) Annual; culms 60 to 90 

 cm. tall; blades mostly 3 to 6 mm. 

 wide; spike strict, 15 to 25 cm. long; 

 glume about 2.5 cm. long, as long 

 as or longer than the 5- to 7-flowered 

 spikelet, firm, pointed; florets plump, 

 the lemmas as much as 8 mm. long, 



obtuse, awned, the awn 6 to 12 mm. 

 long. O — Grainfields and waste 

 places, occasional throughout the 

 eastern United States and rather 

 common on the Pacific coast; intro- 

 duced from Europe. Lolium temu- 

 lentum var. leptochaeton A. Br. 

 Lemmas awnless. O — Washing- 

 ton to California, occasional on the 

 Atlantic coast, Maine to Texas; 

 introduced from Europe. 



4. Lolium persicum Boiss. and 

 Hohen. Annual, resembling small 

 plants of L. temulentum, branching 

 at the lower nodes; spike 8 to 12 

 cm. long; spikelets mostly more dis- 

 tant than in L. temulentum, the 

 glume three-fourths to as long as the 

 spikelet, the florets mostly 9 to 10 

 mm. long, not plump, the awn slen- 

 der, commonly flexuous, the palea 

 slightly exceeding the lemma. O 

 — A weed in wheatfields and waste 

 ground, Ontario to Alberta, and in 

 North Dakota, becoming a bad weed. 

 Introduced, probably in wheat seed 

 from Russia. 



5. Lolium subulatum Vis. (Fig. 

 372.) Annual; culms freely branching 

 at base, stiffly spreading or pros- 

 trate; foliage scant, blades short; 

 spike subcylindric, rigid, often curved; 

 spikelets sunken in the excavations 

 of the rachis, the florets partly hidden 

 by the appressed obtuse strongly 

 nerved glume; lemmas 5 mm. long. 

 O — On ballast, near Portland, 

 Oreg.; introduced from Europe. 



Lolium strictum Presl. Annual; 

 branched and spreading at base, 10 

 to 30 cm. tall; spike thickish, 5 to 

 10 cm. long, the rachis thick but 

 flattish and angled. O — Ballast, 

 Linnton, Oreg., Berkeley, Calif.; Mo- 

 have County, Ariz. Introduced from 

 Europe. Resembles L. subulatum, 

 but the spikelets not sunken in a 

 cylindric rachis. 



Lolium remotum Schrank. Leafy annual; 

 spike slender, spikelets more or less remote; 

 glume half to two-thirds as long as the spike- 

 lets; florets 3 to 4 mm. long, plump, awnless. 

 O — Weed in flax field, North Dakota, the 

 seed from Russia. 



