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Registration of ‘Ultimate’ Zoysiagrass
Author(s) -
Scully B. T.,
Nagata R. T.,
Cherry R. H.,
Nuessly G. S.,
Trenholm L. E.,
Kenworthy K. E.,
Schwartz B. M.,
Unruh J. B.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of plant registrations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1940-3496
pISSN - 1936-5209
DOI - 10.3198/jpr2011.04.0196crc
Subject(s) - zoysia japonica , cultivar , biology , pyralidae , crop , horticulture , canopy , agricultural experiment station , agronomy , agriculture , botany , pest analysis , ecology
‘Ultimate’ (Reg. No. CV‐260, PI 652947) zoysiagrass ( Zoysia japonica Steud.) was developed and approved for release by the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station at the Everglades Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Belle Glade, FL and initially approved for release in 2004. A plant patent was submitted in mid‐2005 and is awaiting examination. This zoysiagrass cultivar was selected as an open‐pollinated progeny derived from ‘Meyer’, which was developed and released in 1952. Ultimate was tested in Florida as a breeding line under the experimental designation of BA‐189. Ultimate was selected in Florida for improved agronomic and horticultural traits, including reduced seedhead production and a faster rate of crop establishment and ground coverage in southern Florida, along with a finer leaf texture and a darker leaf color. In comparison to the standard cultivar Meyer, Ultimate produced 57% fewer seedheads, and the crop established 30 d faster than Meyer on an approximate annual basis. Ultimate produced leaves that were a darker green and had a deeper color value than those of Meyer. On average, the leaves of Meyer were 29% longer and 34% wider than those of Ultimate. The attenuated leaf morphology of Ultimate conferred the appearance of a more refined canopy structure than Meyer. Ultimate also had a distinct floral morphology from Meyer, and its foliar resistance to the tropical sod webworm ( Herpetogramma phaeopteralis Guenee) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was improved over, but not significantly superior to, that of Meyer. Ultimate was developed to augment the specialty zoysiagrass market in Florida.