Lolium multiflorum Lam., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Risk assessment results:  High risk, score: 9 (Go to the risk assessment)

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: duo hua hei mai cao

English: annual ryegrass, Italian ryegrass, Westerwold ryegrass

French: ivraie à fleurs nombreuses, ivraie multiflore, ray-grass d'Italie

Spanish: ballico de Italia, ballico Italiano, cevolillo, cola de zorro, gran ray-gras, joyo, raygras Italiano

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Annuals or short-lived perennials, usually without basal innovations; culms ascending or erect, 5-10 dm tall, smooth to scabrous in lower part.  Sheaths glabrous, persistent at base of the plant, auricles well-developed, crescent-shaped, up to 1.5 mm long; ligule 0.5-1.5 mm long; blades flat or slightly involute, (3-) 3.5-7 (-10) mm wide, upper surface scabrous.  Spikes erect, (10-) 14-27 (-30) cm long; spikelets distichous, appressed against rachis, 6-10 (-15)-flowered, 9-15(-30) cm long; second glume narrowly lanceolate, 4-9 (-12) mm long, usually ca. 1/2 as long as the spikelet, apex obtuse to rounded; lemmas lanceolate, 5-6.6 (-7.5) mm long, 5-nerved, glabrous to scabrous, margins inrolled, apex obtuse to acute, those of the lower florets mucronate, those of the upper florets with awns 1-5 (-8) mm long produced from a minutely bifid apex; plaea about as long as lemma, 2-nerved, margins finely ciliate, keels winged.  Caryopsis brown, dorsally compressed, obovoid to ellipsoid, 3-4 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1561).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "used as a pasture grass, and naturalized in pastures, grasslands, cultivated fields, and other disturbed sites, 850-1,470 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1561).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Europe and the Mediterranean region, widely used in temperate regions as a pasture grass" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1561).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 216)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced	Skottsberg, Carl (1953) (p. 216)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1561) Voucher cited: Rock 8710 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Kaua‘i Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1561)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1561)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. (1998) (p. 29) Voucher cited: Forbes 99.Mo (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1561)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 100)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 100)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 100)
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 219)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 219)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 100)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 219)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 100)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 125) "On roadsides and waste land, found sometimes as a weed in pasture and in gardens".

Comments:  Introduced to Fiji in 1933 but did not persist in trial plots (Smith, 1979; p. 390).

Additional information:
Additional online information about Lolium multiflorum is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Lolium multiflorum as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Lolium multiflorum may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Herbst, Derral R./Clayton, W. D. 1998. Notes on the grasses of Hawai‘i: new records, corrections, and name changes. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Miller, Scott, E., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1997. Part 1: Articles. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 55:17-38.

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Skottsberg, Carl. 1953. The natural history of Juan Fernandez and Easter Island. Vol. II, Botany. Almqvist &l; Wiksells, Uppsala. 960 pp.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).