Italian Ryegrass

Lolium multiflorum Lam.
Italian ryegrass is a short-lived, highly tillered, cool season biennial bunchgrass. It is usually grown as an annual forage or a quickly establishing, green ground cover. There are two types of ryegrasses: Italian and Westerwold, both with diploid and tetraploid varieties. Ryegrasses cross-pollinate freely and it is difficult to maintain genetic purity. Often they form a mixture of perennial and annual species.
Italian ryegrass is a bunchgrass that grows very dense, fibrous, shallow roots that do not tolerate drought. Vegetative growth can be vigorous with stand height reaching to 40 cm (16 in.), which can become thick and often lodged. Leaves are long, tapered, about 10 mm wide, keeled, and dark green. One side is glossy and the edges are smooth.
Seed heads develop on stems up to 100 cm (39 in.) long as spikes up to 25 cm (10 in.) long with alternately arranged spikelets that are placed edgewise to the rachis. Spikelets form 10 to 20 flowers that cross-pollinate. Seeds shatter very easily.