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a Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, P.O. Box 10, Huntsville, UT 84317
b Plant Biology and Pathology Dep., NJAES, Cook College, Rutgers Univ., 59 Dudley Road, Foran Hall, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
* Corresponding author (tford{at}lebsea.com)
‘Bordeaux’ Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (Reg. no. CV- 85, PI 631178) is a turf-type cultivar released by Lebanon Seaboard, Inc., Lebanon, PA, in September 2001. Germplasm from the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) was used in the development of Bordeaux. A95-1135 and LTP-1135 were its experimental designations. The first Certified seed was produced in 2001.
Bordeaux originated as a single highly apomictic plant selected from the open-pollinated progeny of C-74. C-74 is a dark, low-growing, vigorous highly apomictic plant collected from an old turf at Exeter, RI, in 1987. C-74 is similar in appearance and performance to ‘Unique’ (Rose-Fricker et al., 1999) and ‘America’ (Funk et al., 1982) Kentucky bluegrasses.
C-74 was open-pollinated by typical plants of ‘Princeton P-105’ and ‘Rita’, as well as other Kentucky bluegrasses collected from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Four plants of Poa ampla Merr. and P. ampla x P. pratensis were also included in the randomized open-pollinated crossing block. A total of 153 plants comprised this block during the late winter of 1992–1993 in a greenhouse located on the Cook College campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Greenhouse conditions were modified before anthesis to increase sexual reproduction of facultative apomictic Kentucky bluegrasses (Bashaw and Funk, 1987; Hintzen and van Wijk, 1985; Pepin and Funk, 1971). Seed from the C-74 maternal parent was harvested in the early spring of 1993.
Seedlings were grown in a greenhouse maintained under short daylength and cool temperatures during the winter of 1993-1994, and promising hybrids were phenotypically identified. Selected hybrid plants were established in a spaced-plant nursery at the Rutgers University Plant Biology and Pathology Research and Extension Farm at Adelphia, NJ, during the spring of 1994. During the following summer, an attractive, dark-green, low-growing plant with medium-early reproductive maturity, high seed yield potential, and excellent floret fertility was identified and seed was harvested on 23 June 1995. In the fall of 1995, this seed was planted in a turf plot at the Adelphia, NJ, farm and given the designation A95-1135. Seed was sent to Lebanon Seaboard Corporation to evaluate seed yield potential in Oregon during the fall of 1998. An experimental Breeder seed production field was established near Imbler, OR, in the fall of 1999. The first seed stock was harvested in 2000.
Bordeaux has relatively short mature plant stature, medium-fine leaf texture, above average leaf spot [caused by Dreschlera poae (Baudys) Shoemaker] resistance, and good turf quality under high maintenance (Bonos et al., 2000). Bordeaux exhibited moderately good resistance to billbug (Sphenophorus spp.) damage and above average overall turf quality under a low maintenance regime (Bonos et al., 2002). Bordeaux excelled in terms of dark genetic color and seedling vigor, along with resistance to the leaf spot and melting-out syndrome [caused by Drechslera poae (Baudys) Shoemaker], powdery mildew (caused by Erysiphe graminis DC), stripe smut [caused by Ustilago striiformis (Westend.) Niessl.], and summer patch (caused by Magnaporthe poae Landschoot and Jackson). Additionally, Bordeaux exhibited above average performance under light shade, as well as good spring density, drought tolerance, winter color, and sod stretching ratings (Morris, 2001).
Bordeaux was developed for turf uses in temperate regions, including home lawns, athletic fields, golf courses, and recreation areas. It should perform well in geographic regions where the species is adapted, both as a monoculture and in blends with other elite Kentucky bluegrasses and in mixtures with improved dark-green fine-leafed fescues (Festuca spp.), turf-type tall fescues (Festuca arundinaceae Schreb.), and turf-type perennial ryegrasses (Lolium perenne L.).
Bordeaux has been an excellent seed producer in both the La Grande (William Merrigan, personal communication, 23 Aug. 2002) and Madras (AL Short, personal communication, 25 Aug. 2002) seed production areas of Oregon. Bordeaux has medium-sized seed that is largely free of pubescence and is relatively easily cleaned (William Merrigan, personal communication, 23 Aug. 2002).
Freshly harvested seed of Bordeaux, like other Kentucky bluegrasses, can exhibit after-ripening dormancy when seeded during warm soil temperatures of late summer. Producers who desire faster germination and establishment should use seed harvested and stored until after-ripening dormancy has physiologically been overcome before sowing (Funk, 2002; Phaneedranath and Funk, 1977, 1981).
Breeder seed of Bordeaux will be maintained by Lebanon Seaboard Corporation. Seed propagation is restricted to three generations from Breeder seed: one each of Foundation, Registered, and Certified. Application no. 200200154 has been made for U.S. Plant Variety Protection.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation is expressed for their many contributions to Dirk Smith, Rachael Bara, Melissa Mohr, Stacy Bonos, Raymond Schaaf, George Ziemienski, Michael Reynolds, James Schumacher, Barbara Smith, and all participants in the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program for their assistance with the evaluation of Bordeaux.
NOTES
Some of this work was conducted as part of the NJAES Project no. 1280, supported by NJAES funds, other grants, and gifts. Additional support was received from the U.S. Golf Association-Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Research Fund, the New Jersey Turfgrass Association, and Lebanon Seaboard Corporation. Registration by CSSA.
Accepted for publication December 31, 2004.
REFERENCES
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