Species

Lolium perenne

Common Name(s)

perennial rye grass

Authority

Lolium perenne L.

Family

Poaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

LOLPER

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Grasses

Habitat

Terrestrial. Roadsides and tracks, pasture, river flats and banks, waste land and sand dunes, lowland to montane

Features

Loosely tufted, dark green, hairless, perennial grass. Leaves soft, thin, 30-200 x 2-6 mm, regularly ribbed above, very glossy and smooth beneath, joined to stem with small collar. Leaf sheath reddish-purplish at base; inner sheath smooth, pale green; emerging leaf folded. Ligule up to 2 mm long, membranous, light green. Seedhead distinctive, erect, thin, flattened, slightly zigzagged; with seeds in small clusters arranged alternately.

Similar Taxa

The seedhead is distinctive with flattened and slightly zig-zag form.

Year Naturalised

1855

Origin

Eur, temp Asia, N Afr

Reason For Introduction
Agricultural

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial.

Reproduction
Seed

Tolerances
Tolerates wet to dryish soils, high to moderate fertility, can re-sprout after damage and grazing, tolerates warm to cold temperatures.

This page last updated on 29 Jun 2011