Lolium multiflorum

El raigrás italiano (Lolium multiflorum) — el raigrás de establecimiento más rápido para forraje inmediato, abono verde y cobertura rápida del suelo.

Lolium multiflorum — Italian ryegrass

Lolium multiflorum is the botanical name for Italian ryegrass, the fastest-establishing of the ryegrasses and a mainstay of quick forage and soil-building sowings. It is the species behind much of our ryegrass range within the wider grass collection.

History & origin

Italian ryegrass takes its common name from northern Italy, where it was selected and popularised as a vigorous, short-lived forage grass before spreading across European farmland. The genus name Lolium is the classical Latin word for a rye-like grass, while the species name multiflorum means “many-flowered,” describing its dense, many-spikeleted seedheads.

Botanical characteristics

A fast, tufted annual or short-lived grass, Italian ryegrass produces glossy, bright-green leaves and tall flowering stems topped with long, awned spikes. It grows rapidly and yields heavily, which makes it valued both as nutritious forage and as a quick-cover crop — qualities that place it among our green manures and cover crops.

Growing Lolium multiflorum from seed

Italian ryegrass is wonderfully easy and quick. Sow shallowly into a firm, moist seedbed and it germinates within days, knitting bare ground into dense green cover in a single season. Keep the surface from drying while it establishes, and cut or graze to keep it productive — our soil preparation guide covers the groundwork.

Ready to grow Italian ryegrass? Browse the ryegrass range or learn the basics first.

Related categories: Ryegrass · Grass · Green Manures · Cover Crops

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¿Qué es Lolium multiflorum?
Es el nombre botánico del raigrás italiano, una gramínea de rápido crecimiento y vida corta que se cultiva por su nutritivo forraje y como cultivo de cobertura rápido o abono verde. ¿En qué se diferencia el raigrás italiano de otros raigrases?
Es el que se establece más rápido y produce mayor rendimiento, pero tiene una vida más corta que el raigrás perenne — ideal para forraje a corto plazo y cobertura verde rápida, más que para céspedes duraderos. ¿Con qué rapidez germina?
Muy rápido — a menudo en pocos días sobre un semillero firme y húmedo — convirtiendo el suelo desnudo en una densa cubierta verde en una sola temporada. ¿Qué significa el nombre multiflorum?
Significa «multifloro» en latín, y describe las densas espigas con múltiples espiguillas que se forman en sus altos tallos florales.