{{Short description|Genus of plants (tufted grasses)}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Ryegrass|Rye}} {{Automatic taxobox | image=Starr_001026-9002_Lolium_perenne.jpg | image_caption=Perennial ryegrass (''Lolium perenne'') | display_parents=3 | taxon=Lolium | authority=L. | type_species= | type_species_authority= | synonyms_ref=<ref name="POWO" /> | synonyms = {{Species list | Arthrochortus | Lowe | Bucetum | Parn. | Craepalia | Schrank | Crypturus | Link | Drymonaetes | Ehrh. | Gnomonia | Lunell | Loliola | Dubois | Micropyropsis | Romero Zarco & Cabezudo | Schedonorus | P.Beauv. }} }}
'''''Lolium''''' is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae).<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/358102#page/95/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von. 1753. Species Plantarum 1: 83] in Latin</ref><ref>{{Tropicos|40008295|Lolium}}</ref> It is often called '''ryegrass,''' but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera.
They are characterized by bunch-like growth habits. ''Lolium'' is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, as well as being cultivated and naturalized in Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Ryegrasses are naturally diploid, with 2n=14, and are closely related to the fescues (''Festuca'').<ref>[http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/cgi-bin/nph-readbtree.pl/feout?FAMILY_XREF=&GENUS_XREF=Lolium&SPECIES_XREF=&TAXON_NAME_XREF=&RANK=Flora Europaea: ''Lolium'']</ref><ref>{{eFloras|2|118826|Lolium |first1=Liang |last1=Liu |first2=Sylvia M. |last2=Phillips |volume=22}}</ref><ref>{{eFloras|5|118826|Lolium |first=Thomas A. |last=Cope}}</ref><ref>[https://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Lolium Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Lolium'']</ref>
Ryegrass should not be confused with rye, which is a grain crop.
==Species== {{As of|2024|February}} the species of ''Lolium'' listed by Plants of the World Online include:<ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=18423-1 |title=''Lolium'' L. |access-date=9 February 2024}}</ref> {{Linked species list | Lolium adzharicum | (Tzvelev) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium apenninum | (De Not.) Ardenghi & Foggi | Lolium arundinaceum | (Schreb.) Darbysh. | Lolium × aschersonianum | (Dörfl.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium atlantigenum | (St.-Yves) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × boucheanum | Kunth | Lolium × brinkmannii | (A.Braun) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium canariense | Steud. | Lolium chayuense | (L.Liu) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × czarnohorense | (Zapał.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium duratum | (B.S.Sun & H.Peng) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × elongatum | (Ehrh.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × fleischeri | (Rohlena) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium font-queri | (St.-Yves) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium formosanum | (Honda) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium giganteum | (L.) Darbysh. | Lolium × holmbergii | (Dörfl.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium interruptum | (Desf.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × krasanii | (H.Scholz) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium letourneuxianum | (St.-Yves) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium liangshanicum | (L.Liu) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium mairei | (St.-Yves) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium mazzettianum | (E.B.Alexeev) Darbysh. | Lolium mediterraneum | (Hack.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium multiflorum | Lam. | Lolium perenne | L. | Lolium persicum | Boiss. & Hohen. | Lolium pluriflorum | (Schult.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × portalii | D.Allen | Lolium pratense | (Huds.) Darbysh. | Lolium remotum | Schrank | Lolium rigidum | Gaudin | Lolium saxatile | H.Scholz & S.Scholz | Lolium scabriflorum | (L.Liu) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × schlickumii | (Grantzow) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium × subnutans | (Holmb.) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi | Lolium subulatum | Vis. | Lolium temulentum | L. | Lolium tuberosum | (Romero Zarco & Cabezudo) Banfi, Galasso, Foggi, Kopecký & Ardenghi }}
; Formerly included Several former ''Lolium'' species now regarded as part of other genera: ''Castellia'', ''Enteropogon'', ''× Festulolium'', ''Hainardia'', ''Lepturus'', ''Melica'', and ''Vulpia''.<ref name=wcsp>{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=422752 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830005207/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=422752 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 30, 2018 |title=''Lolium'' |work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew }}</ref> {{Columns-list|colwidth=30em| * ''Lolium bromoides - Vulpia bromoides'' * ''Lolium canadense'' <small>Michx. ex Roem. & Schult. 1817 not Bernh. ex Rouville 1853</small> - ''Melica mutica'' * ''Lolium coelorachis - Lepturus repens'' * ''Lolium cylindricum'' <small>(Willd.) Asch. & Graebn. 1901. not K.Koch 1848</small> - ''Hainardia cylindrica'' * ''Lolium distachyum - Enteropogon monostachyos'' * ''Lolium elegans - Castellia tuberculosa'' * ''Lolium × festucaceum - × Festulolium loliaceum'' * ''Lolium × festucoides - × Festulolium loliaceum'' * ''Lolium × grandispicum - × Festulolium braunii'' }}
<gallery widths="160px" heights="200px"> File:Perennial Ryegrass.jpg|Perennial ryegrass, used as winter lawn.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lamson-Scribner|first=Bill|date=November 12, 2020|title=Horticulture Hotline: To rye or not to rye—it's that lawn season again|work=Moultrie News|url=https://www.postandcourier.com/moultrie-news/horticulture-hotline-to-rye-or-not-to-rye---its-that-lawn-season-again/article_13d67450-1d51-11eb-a165-371fbcd55d7e.html|access-date=November 18, 2020}}</ref> File:Illustration Leymus arenarius and Lolium temulentum0.jpg|Poison darnel (''Lolium temulentum'') </gallery>
==Cultivation and uses== ''Lolium'' contains some species which are important grasses for lawns, and as pasture and for grazing and hay for livestock, being a highly nutritious stock feed. Ryegrasses are also used in soil erosion control programs. It is the principal grazing grass in New Zealand where some 10 million kilograms of certified seed are produced every year. There is a large range of cultivars. The primary species found worldwide and used both for lawns and as a forage crop is perennial ryegrass (''Lolium perenne''). Like many cool-season grasses of the Poaceae, it harbors a symbiotic fungal endophyte, either ''Epichloë'' or its close relative ''Neotyphodium'', both of which are members of the fungal family Clavicipitaceae.<ref name="Schardl">{{cite journal|vauthors=Schardl CL, Leuchtmann A, Spiering MJ |year=2004|title=Symbioses of grasses with seedborne fungal endophytes|journal=Annu Rev Plant Biol|volume=55|issue=1 |pages=315–340|pmid=15377223|doi=10.1146/annurev.arplant.55.031903.141735|bibcode=2004AnRPB..55..315S }}</ref><ref name="CheplickGP">{{cite journal|author=Cheplick GP|year=2011|title=Endosymbiosis and population differentiation in wild and cultivated Lolium perenne (Poaceae)|journal=American Journal of Botany|pmid=21613060|doi=10.3732/ajb.1000226|volume=98|issue=5|pages=829–38|doi-access=free|bibcode=2011AmJB...98..829C }}</ref>
Some species, particularly ''L. temulentum'', are weeds which can have a severe impact on the production of wheat and other crops. Annual ryegrass (''L. rigidum'') is one of the most serious and costly weeds of cropping systems in southern Australia, and herbicide resistance is a frequent problem.<ref>[https://grass-killer.com/blog/when-does-annual-ryegrass-die When Does Annual Ryegrass Die]</ref> Ryegrass pollen is also one of the major causes of hay fever. Tennis courts, including those at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the venue for Wimbledon, are planted with ryegrass.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline=the-wonders-of-wimbledon-fortnight&method=full&objectid=19348144&siteid=93463-name_page.html | last = Bletchly | first = Rachael | title = The Wonders of Wimbledon Fortnight | publisher = People | date = 24 June 2007 | access-date = 8 July 2009 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120218084822/http://www.people.co.uk/news/tm_headline%3Dthe-wonders-of-wimbledon-fortnight%26method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D19348144%26siteid%3D93463-name_page.html | archive-date = 18 February 2012 | df = dmy-all }}.</ref><ref>{{cite book | year = 2009 | chapter-url = http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/infosheets/grasscourts_2009.pdf | title = The Championships | chapter = Grass Courts | publisher = Wimbledon | access-date = 15 July 2009 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120224154523/http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/infosheets/grasscourts_2009.pdf | archive-date = 24 February 2012 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Glyphosate-resistant ''Lolium'' has been reported from Mississippi in 2006.<ref name="Vijay-Nandula-2006">{{ Cite journal | url=http://doi.org/10.1614/WT-06-168.1| last1=Nandula| first1= VK| display-authors=etal| year=2006|title=Differential response to glyphosate in Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) populations from Mississippi.| journal= Weed Technol| volume=21| issue=2| pages=477–482| doi=10.1614/WT-06-168.1 | s2cid=86123045 | url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q158509}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Pooideae Category:Poaceae genera Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus