Lolium temulentumL.

Darnel ryegrassdarnel

WFO wfo-0000878503 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 2 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 2 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. a Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / 2020-04-26 / obs. 69742639
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. b Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742679
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. c Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742733
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. d Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742778
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. e Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742824
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. f Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742871
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Cleveland Powell
fig. g Cleveland Powell, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69742927
Lolium temulentum, photographed by Roz Hunter
fig. h Roz Hunter, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 69850421

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 70 botanical countries

Regions where Lolium temulentum is native: Algeria, Azores, Canary Is., Egypt, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Selvagens, Tunisia, Afghanistan, China North-Central, China Southeast, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Gulf States, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, Manchuria, North Caucasus, Oman, Palestine, Qinghai, Saudi Arabia, Tadzhikistan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, Xinjiang, Yemen, India, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Himalaya, Albania, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Krym, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine AlgeriaEgyptLibyaMoroccoSelvagensTunisiaAfghanistanChina North-CentralChina SoutheastCyprusEast Aegean Is.Gulf StatesIranIraqKazakhstanKirgizstanKrasnoyarskKuwaitLebanon-SyriaManchuriaNorth CaucasusOmanPalestineQinghaiSaudi ArabiaTadzhikistanTibetTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanTuvaUzbekistanXinjiangYemenIndiaMyanmarPakistanSri LankaWest HimalayaAlbaniaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFranceGreeceHungaryItalyKritiKrymNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNW. Balkan Pen.PolandPortugalRomaniaSiciliaSpainTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraine AzoresCanary Is.MadeiraKoreaBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Lolium temulentum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
China North-Central CHN
China Southeast CHS
Cyprus CYP
East Aegean Is. EAI
Gulf States GST
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Kuwait KUW
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Manchuria CHM
North Caucasus NCS
Oman OMA
Palestine PAL
Qinghai CHQ
Saudi Arabia SAU
Tadzhikistan TZK
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
Xinjiang CHX
Yemen YEM
Albania ALB EUROPE
Austria AUT
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
France FRA
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Portugal POR
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Azores AZO
Canary Is. CNY
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Selvagens SEL
Tunisia TUN
India IND ASIA-TROPICAL
Myanmar MYA
Pakistan PAK
Sri Lanka SRL
West Himalaya WHM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 70 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Bromus temulentus Bernh.
  • Craepalia temulenta (L.) Schrank
  • Festuca temulenta (L.) J.P.Sm. & Columbus
  • Loliola pratensis Dubois
  • Lolium aegyptiacum Bellardi ex Rouville
  • Lolium album Steud.
  • Lolium annuum Lam.
  • Lolium arvense With.
  • Lolium arvense var. geniculatum Dumort.
  • Lolium arvense var. hostii Dumort.
  • Lolium arvense var. liniforme Dumort.
  • Lolium arvense var. major Hagenb.
  • Lolium arvense var. majus Fr.
  • Lolium arvense var. minor Desm.
  • Lolium arvense var. minus Gaudin
  • Lolium arvense var. muticum Pauquy
  • Lolium arvense var. speciosum Gaudin
  • Lolium asperum Roth ex Kunth
  • Lolium asperum Roth
  • Lolium berteronianum Steud.
  • Lolium cuneatum Nevski
  • Lolium decipiens Dumort.
  • Lolium giganteum Roem. & Schult.
  • Lolium gracile (Dumort.) Dumort.

and 46 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.