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Simplot/Jacklin Seed, West 5300 Riverbend Ave., Post Falls, ID 83854-9499
* Corresponding author. (msellmann{at}simplot.com)
‘Rescue 911’ hard fescue [Festuca trachophylla (Hack.) Krajina] (Reg. no. CV-92, PI 633426) is a turf-type cultivar developed by the J.R. Simplot Co., Jacklin Seed, Post Falls, ID. First Certified seed was produced in 2000. Rescue 911 was tested under the experimental designations Med-13 and HF9013.
Development of Rescue 911 began in November 1974, when 50 tillers of ‘Biljart’ (Alderson and Sharp, 1995), and 20 tillers each of ‘Scaldis’ (Alderson and Sharp, 1995), ‘Centurion’ (Alderson and Sharp, 1995), and ‘Waldina’ (Alderson and Sharp, 1995) were established in the greenhouse. In spring 1975, three blocks (Scaldis/Biljart, Centurion/Biljart, Waldina/Biljart) were transplanted into a spaced-plant nursery at Eden Prairie, MN. Several cycles of recurrent selection were performed on the three plant populations between 1976 and 1984. Each generation was rogued, removing plants with disease such as stem rust (caused by Puccinia graminis Pers.:Pers.) as well as plants with lighter color and early flowering. Remaining plants represented the best culm development and recovery from drought conditions. The three populations were bulk-harvested in 1984 and designated HF8250. In 1990, 600 plants of HF8250 were established in a spaced-plant block near Corvallis, OR. In spring 1991, plants with lighter color (5%) and low potential seed yield (5%) were removed. Seed was harvested by maternal row and designated as HF9013-1, HF9013-2, HF9013-3, HF9013-4, HF9013-5, and HF9013-6. These maternal lines were established in turf plots at Bridgeton, NJ, in the fall of 1991. In 1993, 400 sprigs were removed from each of the six maternal lines and planted in a spaced-plant nursery near Rathdrum, ID. In 1994, 50 plants were selected from the 2400-plant block on the basis of dark green color, high seed head density, and upright seed heads before anthesis and moved to an isolated polycross block. Seed from this block was harvested and taken to the laboratory where it was germinated and inoculated with endophytic fungus [Neotyphodium spp. (Morgan-Jones & Gams.) Glenn, Bacon and Hanlin comb. nov.] (Johnson-Cicalese et al., 2000). In the fall of 1994, 300 endophyte-infected plants were planted in an isolation block near Albany, OR. Ten percent of these plants were rogued before anthesis based on light color, low turf density, and low potential seed yield. A small amount of Breeder seed was harvested in 1995 and a larger amount in 1996. No further roguing was done after the 1995 harvest. In September 1996, a 0.4-ha seedstock block was planted near Rathdrum, ID. The first harvest was in July 1997. A second harvest, taken in July 1998, was used for entry into the 1998 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) hard fescue trial as Rescue 911 (Morris, 2002).
In the 1998 NTEP 2001 Progress Report, Rescue 911 exhibited improved turf quality under medium-input conditions compared with ‘Scaldis II’, Scaldis, ‘Osprey’, ‘Defiant’, ‘Bighorn’, and ‘Attila E’ (Morris, 2002). Rescue 911 ranked 1st among the hard fescues for genetic color and was darker than ‘Berkshire’, ‘Minotaur’, ‘Oxford’, ‘Heron’, ‘Scaldis II’, ‘Stonehenge’, ‘Hardtop’, ‘Discovery’, ‘Nordic E’, ‘Eureka II’, and Osprey. Living ground cover of Rescue 911 in the fall season was improved over that of Attila E and Defiant. Summer patch (caused by Magnaporthe poae Landschoot and Jackson) disease ratings taken in Kentucky indicated that Rescue 911 was more resistant than Osprey, Scaldis, and Scaldis II.
Rescue 911 is most similar to Brigade. However, it differs in several key morphological characteristics including length of culm from crown to flagleaf collar and flagleaf sheath length. Rescue 911 also has lighter weight seed than Brigade.
Rescue 911 hard fescue is an improved turf-type cultivar with dark green leaves and a slower growth habit. Its key attributes are its good establishment, persistence, and presence of an endophyte (DaCosta et al., 1999). With the endophyte comes improved resistance to diseases such as dollar spot (caused by Sclerotinia homoeocarpa F.T. Bennett) as well as resistance to surface-feeding insects such as billbug (Shenophorus spp.) (DaCosta et al., 1999).
Rescue 911 hard fescue is a uniform and stable cultivar. Breeder, Foundation, and Certified seed have produced turfgrass with comparable quality and acceptable uniformity. Rescue 911 is recommended for home lawns, roadsides, parks and golf course out-of-play areas where hard fescue is suitable for turf. It can be grown in full sun or dense shade. Its low growth habit makes it suitable for unmowed lower maintenance conditions.
Breeder seed is maintained by Jacklin Seed. Seed propagation is limited to three generations of increase, one each of Foundation, Registered, and Certified. U.S. Plant Variety Protection for Rescue 911 will not be applied for.
NOTES
Accepted for publication October 31, 2003.
REFERENCES
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