Lolium perenne L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: hei mai cao

English: English ryegrass, perennial ryegrass

French: ivraie vivace, ray-grass anglais

Spanish: ballia inglesa, ballico, ballico perenne, césped inglés, raygras, raygras inglés, villico

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennial with numerous basal innovations; culms ascending or erect, (3-) 4-9 dm tall, glabrous and smooth.  Basal leaves forming tufts up to 1.5-3 dm tall; sheaths smooth, auricles well-developed, crescent-shaped, up to 1.5 (-2) mm long; ligule entire, 0.5-1.5 mm long; blades narrowly linear, 1-3 (-4) mm wide, glabrous and smooth, sometimes scaberulous.  Spikes erect, narrow, (8-) 10-20 (-25) cm long; spikelets (3-) 5-7 (-11)-flowered, (8-) 9.5-15 (-20) mm long; second glume linear-lanceolate to ovate, (4-) 6-10 (-12) mm long, nearly as long as the spikelet, 7-9-nerved, with 3-5 of the nerves more prominent; lemmas (4-) 5-7 (-8) mm long, glabrous, margins membranous, apex obtuse to acute, awnless; palea nearly as long as lemma, 2-nerved, keeled, the keels slightly winged, ciliate, apex acute.  Caryopsis reddish brown, ellipsoid, strongly flattened, 2.5-3 mm long" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1561).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  "Heath- and shrubland, riparian habitats, freshwater wetlands, coastal beaches.  In Europe, this grass is frequently found in grassland, pastures, meadows and disturbed places.  Where invasive, it spreads quickly and forms dense swards that displace native grass and forb species and reduce species richness.  The grass is highly competitive" (Weber, 2003; p. 241).

In Hawai‘i, "naturalized and common in grasslands and pastures, 850-2,440 m" (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1561).  In New Caledonia, "se rencontre à présent comme mauvaise herbe peu commune autour de Nouméa"  (MacKee, 1994; p. 60).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Europe, Africa, Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced cultivated	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 12) "Introduced and widely grown as a pasture grass". Vouchers cited: W.R. Sykes NI 792 (CHR), W.R. Sykes NI 841 (CHR)
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)
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1561) Voucher cited: Rock 3179 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 30) East Maui. Vouchers cited: Starr & Martz 001026-2 (BISH), Oppenheimer H50123 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex (2008) (p. 8) Voucher cited: A. Lau & D. Frohlich 2007040 (BISH)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 60) Voucher cited: MacKee 16022

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. 101)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 101)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 101)
China China	Hong Kong	introduced	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 340)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 101)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. plate)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 192)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 101)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 126) "Roadsides and tracks, pasture, river flats and banks, waste land and sand dunes; lowland to montane".
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 219)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive	Topp, J. M. W. (1988) (p. 17)
British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Archipelago	Diego Garcia Island	introduced invasive	Whistler, W. Arthur (1996) (p. 25)
Mascarene Islands Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Reunion, Rodrigues)	Mascarene Islands	introduced	Weber, Ewald (2003) (p. 241)

Comments:  Introduced to Fiji in 1934 but did not become established in trial plots (Smith, 1979; p. 391).

Control: 

Physical:  Hand pull or dig out scattered plants.

Chemical:  Spray with herbicide (Weber, 2003; p. 241).

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

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

Taxonomic information about Lolium perenne 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.

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

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. .

Frohlich, Danielle/Lau, Alex. 2008. New plant records from O‘ahu for 2007. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucias G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2007. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers 100:3-12.

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

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.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

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.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

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

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

Topp, J. M. W. 1988. An annotated check list of the flora of Diego Garcia, British Ocean Territory. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 313. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 21 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).

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Whistler, W. Arthur. 1996. Botanical survey of Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory. Isle Botanica. 49 pp.

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

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