The Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne) has a smooth, erect stem growing from fifteen inches to two feet high. The root is perennial and fibrous, often purplish, with four to five smooth joints. The leaves are dark green, lanceolate, acute, flat, and smooth on the outer surface. On the inner surface the leaves are rougher. The glume is much shorter than the spikelet. Flowers six to nine, awnless. Flowers in June.

Perennial Rye Grass

The Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne) has a smooth, erect stem growing from fifteen inches to two…

The Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne) has a smooth, erect stem growing from fifteen inches to two feet high. The root is perennial and fibrous, often purplish, with four to five smooth joints. The leaves are dark green, lanceolate, acute, flat, and smooth on the outer surface. On the inner surface the leaves are rougher. The glume is much shorter than the spikelet. Flowers six to nine, awnless. Flowers in June. A magnified spikelet is shown here.

Perennial Rye Grass

The Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne) has a smooth, erect stem growing from fifteen inches to two…

<i>Lolium perenne</i>. A sheath, in botany is "the part of an expanded organ that is rolled around a stem or other body, forming a tube, as in the lower part of the leaves of grasses..." &mdash;Whitney, 1889 
<p>This illustration show a single leaf of ryegrass in its sheath.

Ryegrass Leaf with Sheath

Lolium perenne. A sheath, in botany is "the part of an expanded organ that is rolled around a stem or…