Lolium is native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, as well as being cultivated and naturalized in Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands.

[8] Lolium contains some species which are important grasses for lawns, and as pasture and for grazing and hay for livestock, being a highly nutritious stock feed.

It is the principal grazing grass in New Zealand where some 10 million kilograms of certified seed are produced every year.

The primary species found worldwide and used both for lawns and as a forage crop is perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne).

Annual ryegrass (L. rigidum) is one of the most serious and costly weeds of cropping systems in southern Australia, and herbicide resistance is a frequent problem.