St. Augustine grass `6-72-182`

Abstract

A perennial St. Augustine grass with yellow anthers and white stigmas having very good turf performance, good cold tolerance, short internodes and leaves and good resistance to gray leaf spot.

Description

BACKGROUND

A St. Augustine grass which has been named "Seville" was disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,097, which issued on Sept. 6, 1977. Another St. Augustine grass which has been named "Delmar" was disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. application Ser. No. 893,960, filed Aug. 7, 1986. A further St. Augustine grass designated 6-72-130 is disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. application Ser. No. 07/185,524, filed or even date herewith.

SUMMARY OF THE VARIETY

The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial St. Augustine grass selected from the progeny of a controlled pollination of a cold tolerant selection obtained from Memphis, Tenn. with the pollen of Seville. This yellow anther, white stigma genotype was labeled 6-72-182 and propagated vegetatively by stolons to provide planting stock for studying performance and making comparisons to present commercial varieties.

The combination of yellow anthers, white stigma, short and thin internodes, short leaf blades, good cold tolerance, a low tendency for purple stems, good resistance to gray leaf spot and very good turf quality of 6-72-182 along with other information allow this genotype to be distinguished from other St. Augustine grasses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a photograph of 6-72-182 St. Augustine turf;

FIG. 2 shows a single spike of a 6-72-182 St. Augustine grass plant depicting yellow anthers and white stigmas protruding from several spikelets; and

FIG. 3 is a photograph of a vegetative stolon of 6-72-182 St. Augustine grass.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE VARIETY

Genotype 6-72-182 has a yellow anther color, a white stigma color, and an unreduced chromosome number of 18. The internodes and leaf blades are shorter than most other St. Augustine varieties. The combination of shorter internodes and leaf blades along with narrower than average leaf blades results in a turf that is generally more dense, finer textured and produces fewer clippings when mowed. Measurements of the spike and related structures indicate that 6-72-182 has a shorter and narrower spike, a peduncle that is shorter than average and thinner than most varieties, a shorter and narrower flag leaf and a shorter flag leaf sheath than most varieties of St. Augustine grass. The chromosome numbers, anther and stigma color and morphological measurements of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustine grasses are compared in Tables 1-4.

TABLE 1______________________________________Chromosome numbers, anther color, and stigma color of 6-72-182and other St. Augustine grasses Chromosome Anther StigmaSelection/Variety Number Color Color______________________________________6-72-182 18 Yellow White6-72-130 18 Purple PurpleBitterblue 27 Yellow PurpleDelmar 18 Yellow WhiteFloratam 27 Yellow PurpleFloratine 27 Yellow PurpleRaleigh 18 Yellow WhiteSeville 18 Yellow PurpleTexas Common 18 Yellow WhiteCalifornia Common 18 Yellow White1081 18 Purple Purple______________________________________ TABLE 2______________________________________Comparative measurements of internode length and thickness of6-72-182 and other St. Augustine grasses. Internode.sup.(a) Diameter (mm).sup.(b)Selection/Variety Length (cm) Longest Shortest Flat.sup.(c)______________________________________6-72-182 4.8 2.8 2.2 1.326-72-130 5.6 2.7 1.9 1.44Bitterblue 6.9 2.7 2.1 1.30Delmar 5.7 3.5 2.6 1.35Floratam 7.5 3.2 2.5 1.25Floratine 5.8 2.7 2.2 1.30Raleigh 7.0 3.2 2.5 1.27Seville 6.8 2.7 2.2 1.25Texas Common 6.2 3.0 2.2 1.35California Common 4.2 2.4 2.0 1.221081 7.3 2.8 2.0 1.38LSD (.05) 1.15 0.24 0.27 0.091______________________________________ .sup.(a) Greenhouse planting at Marysville, Ohio. Measurements taken on unclipped potted plants using third internode from terminal end of stolon .sup.(b) Diameter measurements taken at the approximate center of the internode which has an elliptical shaped cross section. .sup.(c) Flatness index equals longest axis divided by shortest axis. A larger flatness index indicates a flatter shaped stem. TABLE 3______________________________________Comparative Leaf Blade Length, Width and Sheath Length of6-72-182 and other St. Augustine grasses.sup.(a). Blade Length (cm) Blade Sheath High.sup.(b) Low.sup.(c) Width.sup.(b) Length.sup.(b)Selection/Variety Light Light (cm) (cm)______________________________________6-72-182 5.3 13.7 1.5 2.36-72-130 5.2 14.8 1.3 2.7Delmar 7.3 16.7 1.8 3.3Bitterblue 7.4 17.5 1.5 2.8Floratam 10.1 27.2 1.7 4.5Floratine 8.6 16.3 1.4 3.2Raleigh 7.8 13.8 1.7 3.7Seville 6.9 18.4 1.4 2.9Texas Common 8.1 16.6 1.7 3.6California Common 3.8 11.8 1.2 2.21081 7.8 15.2 1.5 3.2LSD (.05) 2.03 3.25 0.17 0.71______________________________________ .sup.(a) Greenhouse Planting Marysville, Ohio. Measurements taken on unclipped potted plants. .sup.(b) After a period of natural sunlight and a high level supplemental light. .sup.(c) After a lengthy period of very cloudy conditions and no supplemental light. TABLE 4______________________________________Comparative measurements of the inflorescence and relatedstructures of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustine grasses.sup.(a).______________________________________ Spike Peduncle Length Width Length WidthSelection/Variety (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)______________________________________6-72-182 60 4.3 52 1.66-72-130 56 4.8 41 1.7Delmar 93 5.3 68 2.1Bitterblue 78 5.6 61 2.2Floratam 96 5.9 83 2.4Floratine 74 5.8 48 2.3Raleigh 72 5.8 62 2.2Seville 71 4.9 50 1.9Texas Common 68 4.9 42 1.91081 78 5.2 60 1.9LSD (.05) 10.0 .64 18.3 0.28______________________________________ Flag Leaf Flag Leaf Sheath Length Width LengthSelection/Variety (mm) (mm) (mm)______________________________________6-72-182 16 6.0 306-72-130 30 5.9 31Delmar 21 6.7 46Bitterblue 22 6.4 44Floratam 35 6.3 46Floratine 27 7.2 39Raleigh 25 7.5 42Seville 15 5.8 38Texas Common 29 7.1 391081 25 6.3 39LSD (.05) 12.4 1.08 6.7______________________________________ .sup.(a) Greenhouse planting Marysville, Ohio. Field observations of 6-72-182 indicate that it has very good turf quality characteristics throughout the year and across the area of the United States where St. Augustine grass is adapted. It performs especially well in the Florida climate. Although it performs best during the hotter summer months, it has good cold tolerance and performs better during the winter months than most readily available commercial varieties. These characteristics of 6-72-182 as compared with other St. Augustine grasses for turf quality and cold injury are illustrated in Tables 5-7. TABLE 5______________________________________Comparative turf quality.sup.(a) of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustinegrass varieties at Apopka, Florida.Selection/Variety Summer Winter Mean______________________________________6-72-182 9.3 8.3 8.76-72-130 8.2 7.6 7.8Bitterblue 7.3 5.9 6.0Delmar 9.8 9.0 9.6Floratam 7.5 5.8 6.1Floratine 7.2 6.1 6.4Florida Common 8.2 6.6 7.0Raleigh 6.7 7.1 7.4Seville 9.0 7.9 8.1Texas Common 6.5 8.4 8.01081 8.7 6.8 7.3LSD (.05) 0.45 0.99 0.88______________________________________ .sup.(a) Qualityrated 1-10, 10 = best. TABLE 6______________________________________Comparative turf quality.sup.(a) of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustine-grass varieties at the South Coast Field Station of the Universityof California - Riverside. Turf QualitySelection/Variety Summer Winter Mean______________________________________6-72-182 5.8 4.5 5.06-72-130 6.6 4.6 5.4Calif. Common 5.4 4.2 4.7Delmar 5.3 4.7 4.9Floratam 5.4 4.1 4.6Raleigh 4.6 3.3 3.9Texas Common 5.5 4.3 4.8LSD (.05) 0.50 0.44 0.39______________________________________ .sup.(a) Qualityrated 1-10, 10 = best. TABLE 7______________________________________Comparative cold injury of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustinegrasses in Apopka, Florida Cold Injury (%)Selection/Variety Expt. 1 Expt. 2 Expt. 3 Expt. 4 Mean______________________________________6-72-182 21 5 35 28 226-72-130 35 17 38 18 27Bitterblue 53 38 58 34 46Delmar 0 0 17 3 5Floratam 40 42 55 40 44Floratine 48 32 37 26 36Raleigh 32 12 37 13 23Seville 35 15 37 24 28Texas Common 18 7 33 28 211081 47 33 48 33 40LSD (.05) 20.9 18.5 26.1 23.5 16.5______________________________________

Color of turf is an important component of turf quality. 6-72-182 has a good dark green color during the summer months which is darker green than most St. Augustine varieties, and during the winter months its color is comparable to other varieties. Other factors that have shown varietal differences include: tendency to turn brown during the winter, for which 6-72-182 is rated about average; susceptibility to Asulox (an important herbicide) to which 6-72-182 is not susceptible; purple stem color, especially during cold weather, for which 6-72-182 has a very low tendency; susceptibility to gray leaf spot to which 6-72-182 has good resistance; and susceptibility to chinch bugs to which 6-72-182 has shown no greater susceptibility than most other varieties. Data on turf color, winter browning, Asulox injury, purple stems, gray leaf spot and chinch bugs are in illustrated in Tables 8-12.

TABLE 8______________________________________Comparative color ratings of 6-72-182 and other St. Augustinegrass at various locations in the U.S. Color.sup.(a) Florida.sup.(b)Selection/Variety Summer Mean California.sup.(c)______________________________________6-72-182 9.8 8.5 3.96-72-130 8.6 7.7 3.8Bitterblue 8.5 7.6 --Calif. Common -- -- 3.8Delmar 10.0 8.9 4.6Floratam 8.8 7.8 4.2Floratine 8.0 7.5 --Florida Common 8.3 7.9 --Raleigh 7.0 6.5 3.4Seville 9.2 8.5 --Texas Common 6.8 7.9 4.01081 8.8 8.0 --LSD (.05) 0.48 0.67 0.35______________________________________ .sup.(a) Color rated 1-10, 10 = darkest green .sup.(b) Test planted at Apopka, Florida .sup.(c) Test planted at South Coast Field Station, University of California Riverside. TABLE 9______________________________________Comparative ratings of various attributes of 6-72-182 and otherSt. Augustine grasses which detract from overall appearance.Selection/Variety Brown.sup.(a) Asulox.sup.(b)______________________________________6-72-182 5.0 06-72-130 6.3 5Delmar 3.7 0Bitterblue -- 12Floratam 6.3 0Floratine -- 2Raleigh 8.3 10Seville -- 3Texas Common 5.7 0California Common 4.0 --1081 -- 7LSD (.05) 2.0 5.3______________________________________ .sup.(a) Test planted at South Coast Field Station University of California Rated as % brown turf. .sup.(b) Test planted at Apopka, Florida Rated as % injury TABLE 10______________________________________Comparative evaluations of purple stem color of 6-72-182 andother St. Augustine grasses. Purple Stem Color.sup.(a)Selection/Variety Ohio.sup.(b) Florida.sup.(c) California.sup.(d)______________________________________6-72-182 4.5 3 06-72-130 8.3 30 4.3Bitterblue 8.0 10 --Cal. Common -- -- 0.7Delmar 3.5 7 0.7Floratam 8.3 20 2.7Floratine 8.0 8 --Raleigh 6.0 28 1.7Seville 4.0 0 --Texas Common 4.5 8 1.01081 7.5 58 --LSD (.05) 1.1 15 0.9______________________________________ .sup.(a) Purple stem color rated 1-10, 10 = stolons are very purple, 1 = stolons are entirely green. For Florida, visual estimation of the level o stem purpling in percent. .sup.(b) Test planted in the greenhouse at Marysville, Ohio. .sup.(c) Test planted at Apopka, Florida. .sup.(d) Test planted at South Coast Field Station, University of California Riverside. TABLE 11______________________________________Comparative ratings of gray leaf spots.sup.(a) of 6-72-182 and other St.Augustine grasses at Apopka, Florida.Selection/Variety______________________________________6-72-182 1.76-72-130 1.7Bittrblue 3.5Delmar 1.0Floratam 3.8Floratine 2.6Raleigh 0.7Seville 0.8Texas Common 2.41081 2.2LSD (.05) 0.88______________________________________ .sup.a Rated 1-10, 10 = most disease. TABLE 12______________________________________Comparative ratings of chinch bug tolerance.sup.(a) of 6-72-182 andother St. Augustine grasses.Selection/Variety Florida.sup.(b)______________________________________6-72-182 3.06-72-130 1.7Delmar 2.0Bitterblue 5.0Floratam 7.0Floratine 2.7Raleigh 6.3Seville 5.7Texas Common 4.7______________________________________ .sup.(a) Rated 1-10. 10 = severe damage. .sup.(b) Test planted in the greenhouse at Apopka, Florida.

Claims

1. A St. Augustine grass, substantially as herein illustrated and described.