Introductory
SPECIES: Lolium perenne | Perennial Ryegrass 



ABBREVIATION : 
LOLPER

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   LOPE


COMMON NAMES : 
   perennial ryegrass
   English ryegrass
   crested ryegrass


TAXONOMY : 
The accepted scientific name for perennial ryegrass is Lolium perenne L.
Perennial ryegrass belongs to the family Poaceae, tribe Triticeae
(Hordeae) [16].  It is closely related to the genus Festuca; numerous
natural hybrids between ryegrasses and European species of Festuca have
been reported [16].  Natural hybrids have resulted in great variation in
the characteristics of ryegrass species.

Some authors recognize the following varieties or subspecies [13,23,24]:

L. p. ssp. perenne
L. p. var. cristatum Pers. 

Most authors distuinguish annual ryegrass (L. p. ssp. multiflorum (Lam.)
Husnot.) and perennial ryegrass (L. p. ssp. perenne) as separate species
due to distinct structural characteristics, even though annual ryegrass
was derived artificially from perennial ryegrass and they readily
hybridize [14,16].

Common ryegrass (Lolium spp.) is a commercial mixture of ryegrass
species which is mostly annual ryegrass but usually contains a
substantial percentage of perennial ryegrass and annual-perennial
hybrids [49,57].


LIFE FORM : 
Graminoid

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Janet Sullivan, December 1992


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Sullivan, Janet. 1992. Lolium perenne. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Species: Lolium perenne | Perennial Ryegrass