Participant Info

Species

Lolium pratense [Schedonorus pratensis] [Festuca pratensis] [Bromus pratensis] etc.

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

meadow ryegrass, meadow fescue

Presence

yes

Status

exotic

EarliestDate

1939

LatestDate

2015

Ecosystem

basin, montane, ruderal

Geobotanical

SSanjuans, UBasin

Counties

Mineral, Rio Grande

Passes

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. The introduced meadow ryegrass was once part of seed mixes for bettering grasslands, lawns, and eroded spaces. In the Watershed, little evidence for that practice remains. There is a voucher from the Colorado State University Experimental Farm (Rio Grande Co, 1951), and another from a ditch bank near Monte Vista (Rio Grande Co, 1939), and a third from a hay meadow in Humphrey's Ranch (Mineral Co, 2014). Apparently Lolium pratense has not naturalized in the Valley as it has through much of the USA, with records from every state. The species runs down through the Rio Grande drainage of New Mexico to the tip of southwest Texas but no farther down stream. Note that the voucher from two miles east of Stony Pass (San Juan Co, 1968) is doubtful. Many authorities still treat this taxon as Schedonorus pratensis (FNA, BONAP) and old records often treat it as a Festuca, but POWO goes with Lolium.

Annotation