Lolium perenne L.

Perennials, forming loose to dense, dark green tufts (10)–20–75 cm; branching intravaginal, leaf-blade folded when young. Leaf-sheath glabrous, often pinkish at first, later light to dark brown and shredding into fibres. Auricles inconspicuous or 0. Ligule 0.5–1–(2) mm, truncate, glabrous. Leaf-blade (3)–6–20–(28) cm × 1.5–4–(5) mm, abaxially glabrous and shining, adaxially smooth or scaberulous, long-narrowed or abruptly narrowed to acute tip; margins scaberulous or smooth. Culm 10–50 cm, erect or spreading or decumbent, internodes glabrous. Spikes (4)–10–28 cm, erect or curved; rachis 0.5–1.2 mm wide, smooth, or scab-erulous on angles. Spikelets 6–15 mm, (2)–5–9–(11)-flowered, green or purplish, overlapping, or more than their own length apart; sometimes proliferous. Upper glume usually < to ≥ spikelet, 5–7-nerved, narrow-lanceolate, subobtuse, glabrous. Lemma (4.5)–5–7–(8.5) mm, 5-nerved, oblong-lanceolate, obtuse to acute, smooth and firm below, scaberulous near margins and hyaline apex, not turgid at maturity, muticous, or occasionally minutely (to 1 mm) awned. Palea = lemma, keels scabrid. Anthers (1.5)–2.5–4 mm. Caryopsis 2–4 × 0.7–1.5 mm. Plate 2A.

[From: Edgar and Connor (2000) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5 (second printing).]