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REGISTRATIONS OF CULTIVARS

Registration of ‘Excursion’ Kentucky Bluegrass

Simplot/Jacklin Seed, West 5300 Riverbend Ave., Post Falls, ID 83854-9499

^* Corresponding author (doug.brede{at}simplot.com)

‘Excursion’ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (Reg. no. CV-82, PI 633050) is a turf-type cultivar released in August 2002 by J.R. Simplot Co., Jacklin Seed, Post Falls, ID. The experimental designations of Excursion were J-1648 and 93-1648.

Excursion originated as an apomictic, single-plant selection from hybrid 89-1037, created in the field at Post Falls in July 1989 using ‘Midnight’ (Meyer et al., 1984) to pollinate plants of ‘Limousine’ (Alderson and Sharp, 1994). Seeds harvested from Limousine were sown into greenhouse flats and later transferred to a spaced-plant nursery of 40701 plants in the spring of 1992. Progeny with characteristics dissimilar to Limousine were selected during maturation in the spring of 1993. Plant 93-1648 was differentiated from Limousine by vegetative turf characteristics before seedhead expression. Plant 93-1648 produced 10 g of seed, which is typical for a bluegrass spaced plant in northern Idaho. ‘Freedom II’ (Brede, 2004) also originated from hybrid 89-1037. A number of other high performance Kentucky bluegrass cultivars originated from Limousine/Midnight hybridization, including ‘Absolute’, ‘Award’, ‘Awesome’, ‘Barrister’, ‘BlueMoon’, ‘Courtyard’, ‘Impact’, ‘NuGlade’, ‘Odyssey’, ‘Perfection’, ‘Quantum Leap’, and ‘Total Eclipse’ (Morris, 2002, 2003).

Progeny apomixis trials were conducted in a spaced-plant nursery established near Post Falls in May 1998. Of 1057 Excursion plants, 3.5% were variants in the vegetative (pre-heading) stage, 0.2% were heading maturity variants, and 0.4% seedhead variants. In spaced-plant nurseries, Excursion averaged 96% apomictic plants. The predominant variant has a lighter green leaf and slightly taller culm. A small number of the variants exhibit a shorter growth habit with slightly broader leaves. Aberrant plants are rogued from seedstock fields, but they will continue to be expressed in each generation due to the facultative apomictic nature of Kentucky bluegrass.

Excursion was tested in the 2000 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) trials for Kentucky bluegrass (Morris, 2002, 2003). In the trial, Excursion had a dark green genetic color which it retained into winter. It had good resistance to close mowing (25 mm), good summer density, wear tolerance, and shear strength/traction. It ranked twenty-first nationwide in overall turf quality out of 173 entries and did particularly well in the Transition Zone, Great Plains, and Midwestern states. Excursion exhibited good resistance to leafspot [caused by Drechslera poae (Baudys) Shoem], summer patch (caused by Magnaporthe poae Landschoot and Jackson), brown patch (caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn), and encroachment of annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.).

Excursion is recommended for golf course tees, fairways, and roughs, and for lawns, parks, and sports turf, in full sun or some shade, in areas where Kentucky bluegrass is well adapted for turf. It is compatible in blends and mixtures with other cool-season turfgrasses at mowing heights as low as 13 mm.

In 5 yr of commercial seed production, Excursion has demonstrated the potential for high yields of quality seed, relative freedom from ergot [caused by Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.], and no adverse reactions to labeled Kentucky bluegrass pesticides.

Breeder seed, first harvested in 1998, is maintained by J.R. Simplot Co., Jacklin Seed. Seed propagation is limited to one generation each of Foundation, Registered, and Certified. U.S. Plant Variety Protection application no. 200300210 has been filed for Excursion.

NOTES

Registration by CSSA.

Accepted for publication April 30, 2004.

REFERENCES

• Alderson, J., and W.C. Sharp. 1994. Grass varieties in the United States. USDA-SCS Agric. Handbook 170. U.S. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, DC.
• Brede, A.D. 2004. Registration of ‘Freedom II’ Kentucky bluegrass. Crop Sci. 44(6):2269, this issue.[Free Full Text]
• Meyer, W.A., B.L. Rose, J.M. Johnson-Cicalese, and C.R. Funk. 1984. Registration of ‘Midnight’ Kentucky bluegrass. Crop Sci. 24:822–823.[Free Full Text]
• Morris, K.N. 2002. National Kentucky bluegrass test. NTEP No. 02–1, 2001 Progress Report. National Turfgrass Evaluation Program. USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD.
• Morris, K.N. 2003. National Kentucky bluegrass test. NTEP No. 03–2, 2002 Progress Report. National Turfgrass Evaluation Program. USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. D. Brede Registration of 'Barrister' Kentucky Bluegrass Crop Sci., November 21, 2006; 46(6): 2718 - 2719. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A.D. Brede Registration of 'Freedom II' Kentucky Bluegrass Crop Sci., November 1, 2004; 44(6): 2269 - 2269. [Full Text] [PDF]

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