Lolium multiflorum Lam.=Lolium perenne ssp. multiflorum
Poaceae (Grass Family)EuropeItalian Ryegrass |
March Photo
Plant Characteristics:
Annual or biennial, with simple erect stems, 4-8 dm., generally glabrous;
lvs. inrolled when young; infl. to 20 cm. long, terminal, flat; ligule 1-3 mm.;
spikelets 10-20 mm. long, of 8-14 florets, solitary, sessile, placed edgewise to
the continuous rachis, one edge fitting the alternate notches; rachilla
disarticulating above the glumes and between the florets; first glume wanting
except on the terminal spikelet, the 2d outward, 3-5 nerved, equaling or
exceeding the 2d floret; lemma convex, 5-7 nerved, broader and softer than in
ssp. perenne, usually awned.
Habitat:
Common in Calif., especially in the Coast Ranges, occurring in waste
places and along roadsides. June-Aug.
Name:
Latin, lolium, an old name for darnel (rye-grass) and perennis,
throughout the year. (Jaeger 143,188). Latin,
multus, many and floris, flower.
(Jaeger 159,103). Multiflorum,
many flowered.
General: Very
common in the study area. Photographed
in the North Star Flats, in the Delhi Area, Santa Ana Heights and along Back Bay
Dr. (my comments).
Adventive and widely planted as a lawn grass, after burns, etc.
Apparently with many strains and horticultural forms and intergrading
with ssp. perenne. Vasek and
Ferguson studying awned and awnless plants in various populations, found
separation into two ssp. by the traditional characters was impossible.
(Munz, Flora So. Calif. 979-80). Lolium spp. was introduced during
the mission period. (Heizer &
Elsasser 38). Agencies
concerned with managing chaparral lands often seed recently burned sites with
non-native herbs, Lolium perenne (ryegrass) in particular. "Type conversion" programs may seed in order to
produce fuel loads sufficient for repeat burns in successive years, which will
replace chaparral with grassland. More
commonly, the justification for seeding is that species such as L. perenne
are thought to establish a better plant cover and reduce soil erosion.
There is evidence that this practice is having negative effects on the
natural regeneration of chaparral. One
of the disastrous effects of this form of manipulation is that the ryegrass
readily outcompetes native herbs. The
negative effects of this are practical as well as aesthetic.
Not only are wildflower displays greatly diminished on artificially
seeded sites, but the soil-stored seed crops of herbs are diminished for the
next fire. Under natural conditions
the post-fire flora does a good job of revegetating the landscape after a fire,
and it costs nothing. Artificial
seeding, however, has disturbed this system.
Ryegrass replaces the native flora, but its seeds are short lived and are
not retained in the soil. (Keeley,
Jon E. and Sterling C. "Chaparral
and Wildfires". FREMONTIA,
A Journal of the California Native Plant Society. October 1986 pp. 20,21).
For additional information on post-fire plant species see Bloomeria
crocea, Phacelia tanacetifolia, Eriophyllum
confertiflorum, and Lotus scoparius. (my
comment). Lolium species have been known to
cause hay fever and asthma. (Fuller
382). Lolium
perene, or English ryegrass, was the first meadow grass to be cultivated in
Europe as a distinct segregated species, the meadows and pastures formerly being
native species. This and L.
multiflorum, Italian ryegrass, are probably the most important of the
European forage grasses. Both
species are used in the United States to a limited extent for meadow, pasture,
and lawn. (Hitchcock 274). About 10 species in temperate parts
of Eurasia. (Munz, Flora So.
Calif. 979).
Text Ref:
Hickman, Ed. 1270; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 979; Robbins et al. 87.
Photo Ref:
May 7 83 # 24; Mar 1 84 # 9; Mar 2-April 1 84 # 23.
Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.
Computer Ref: Plant Data 51
Have plant specimen.
Last edit 4/18/03.
May Photo