Perennial Rye-grass
Perennial Rye-grass
Grass
The hard-wearing grass of lawns, pastures and sports pitches — it springs back from cutting and trampling better than almost any other, and is the most widely sown grass in the temperate world.
💡 Fun Facts
- This is the grass of most lawns, football pitches and farm fields — the one you probably walk on most often.
- It grows back fast after being cut, grazed or trampled, which is why it is sown almost everywhere.
- It is the most widely planted grass in the whole temperate world.
📅 Through the Year
- Flowering:May to July
- Fruiting:July to August
Name Story
Lolium perenne
means “the year-after-year grass”
What does its name mean?
- Lolium — darnel (an old name for a weedy grass)Latin — the Romans’ name for darnel, a troublesome cornfield weed
- perenne — lasting through the yearsLatin per + annus ‘through the year’Decode this word →
The second word means ‘through the years’ — this is a grass that comes back season after season instead of dying off after one year. The first word was the Romans’ name for darnel, a weedy cousin in the grass family; it was later borrowed for this whole group, including the useful ryegrasses we grow in meadows and lawns today.