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Climate Adaptations TaxonomyyTurf I - Week 3

Climate Classification Climate Classification• Tropical (A)

– wet / dry summer / dry winter • Dry (B)

– arid / semi arid• Subtropical (C)Subtropical (C)

– dry summer / dry winter / humid• Temperate (D)

– oceanic / continental• Subarctic (E)• Polar (F)

– tundra / ice cap

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Climate Adaptation

Cool SeasonGrass

• Climate– Subartic Bentgrasses and BluegrassSubartic Bentgrasses and Bluegrass– Temperate Fesues and Ryegrass– Transition zone Kentucky bluegrass, Tall Fesue

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Climate Adaptation

Warm SeasonGrasses

• Climate– Transition Zossiagrass BermudagrassTransition Zossiagrass, Bermudagrass– Subhumid St. Augustinegrass– Humid Carpetgrass, Centipedegrass

Turfgrass Management unique to Turfgrass Management unique to the tropicsthe tropics

• Year-long maintenance: No “slack season”– Rapid wear of equipment, etc.– Rapid growth of turfgrass in some climates– High temp and rainfall may alter performance of

h i lchemicals• Continuous pest generations

– Annual weed seed may germinate at any time– Favorable environment for disease and insect

pests

Turfgrass management unique to Turfgrass management unique to the tropicsthe tropics

• Rainfall intensity may cause flooding and/or erosion • Highly weathered soils (especially in wet tropics)

– Nutrients leached– Low CEC– Fe and Al hydroxide clays- low pH high P fixing– Fe and Al hydroxide clays- low pH, high P fixing

• Dry tropics– Large irrigation requirements – Soils may be saline or sodic

Climate AdaptationCool Season

GrassWarm Season

Grass

• Climate E,D,C C, A

• Optimum temperature 60-70° F 80-95° Fp p

• Flowering Photoperiod Long day Short day day neutral

• Photosynthesis C3 C4

Flowering Photoperiod

• Long day plants– Flower when night are shorter than critical

period• Typically flower in the spring or early summerTypically flower in the spring or early summer

• Short day plants– Flower when night are longer than critical

period• Day neutral

Photosynthesis

H2OCo2

ATPNADPH

Photophosphorylation

O2

Calvin Cycle

Carbohydrates

ADPPNADP+

Light Reaction Dark Reaction(Light independent Reaction)

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C3 Photosynthesis

• Common crops - beans, squash, tomatoes • First stable compound in dark reaction is a

C3 carbon• Optimum temperature relatively low • Not tolerant to heat and drought stress

C4 Photosynthesis

• Common Crops: corn, sorghum, sugarcane

• CO2 incorporated into a C4 carbon before it enters the dark reaction

• Higher temperature for optimum Photosynthesis

• Allows carbon fixation occur under stress

Relative % C3 and C4 grass cover in Hawaii at different elevations

80

100

%C4 speciesr

30002000100000

20

40

60

%C4 species % C3 species

Elevation (m)

% o

f gra

ss c

over

Taxonomy

Taxonomy

• Science of classifying living organisms in specially named categories – Based on shared characteristics and natural

relationshipsrelationships. • Turfgrasses are all members of the "grass"

family– Historically called the Gramineae– Today referred to as the Poaceae

Grass Classification• Domain Eukarya• Kingdom Plantae• Phylum Anthophyta• Class Monocotyledonesy• Order Commenilanes• Family Poaceae• Genus Lolium• Species Lolium perenne L.

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Grass Family

• Subdivisions – Subfamilies– Tribes

Total Turf grasses6 (3)25 (7)

– Genera – Species

• Subspecies• Varieties• Cultivars

600 (17)7500 (40)

Turfgrass Taxonomy

Turfgrass Taxonomy

Family Subfamily Tribe

FestucoideaeFestuceae

Aveneae

Poacea Eragrostoideae

PanicoideaePaniceae

Andropogoneae

Zoysia

Chlorideae

Genera in the Festucoid Tribes

Aveneae FestuceaeBentgrass(Agrostis)

Bluegrass(Poa)

Ryegrass(Lolium)

Fescues(Festuca)

Genera in the Eragrostoid Tribes

ChlorideaeZosiaeaBermudagrass

(Cynodon)Buffalograss

(Buchloe)Zosiagrass

(Zoysia)

Genera in the Pancoid Tribes

Andropogoneae

Centipedegrass(Eremochloa)

Paniceae

Carpetgrass(Axonopus) ( )

Kikuyugrass(Penniseptum)

St.Augustinegrass(Stenotaphrum)

Paspalum(Paspalum)_

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Tribe Differences in Anatomy and Morphology

• Roots• Stem• Leaves• Inflorescence• Embryo

Roots

• Festucoideae – Root hairs arise from tricoblasts

• Eragrostoideae R t h i i f ll id l ll– Root hairs arise from all epidermal cells

• Panicoideae – Root hairs arise from all epidermal cells

Stems

• Festucoideae – Culm internodes hollow

• Agrostoideae C l i t d lid– Culm internodes solid

• Panicoideae – Culm internodes solid

Leaves

• Festucoideae – Ligules: membranous

• Agrostoideae Li l f i f h i– Ligules: a fringe of hairs

• Panicoideae – Lilgules: membranous

Inflorescence

• Festucoideae– One-to-several fertile florets in a spikelet

• Eragrostoideae O t l f til fl t i ik l t– One-to-several fertile florets in a spikelet

• Panicoideae – One fertile and one sterile floret in a spikelet

Embryo• Festucoideae

– Mesocotyl internode absent - small embryo (1/5 caryopsis)

• Eragrostoideae g– Mesocotyl internode present - large embryo

(1/2 caryopsis)• Panicoideae

– Mesocotyl internode present - large embryo (1/2 caryopsis)

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Naming Plants

• Each species has unique scientific name• The scientific name of a species consist of

two wordsG ( )– Genus name (a noun)

– Specific epithet (an adjective)• Binomial name

– E.g., Alnus rubra

LATIN BINOMIAL

Poa pratensis L.

GenusSpecies?? Authority

LATIN BINOMIAL

• AUTHORITIES• L. Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778• Huds. William Hudson 1730-1793• Schreb. Johann v. Schreber 1739-1810• Walt. Thomas Walter 1740-1789• Lam. Jean de Lamarck 1744-1829• Pers. Christiaan Persoon 1761-1836

Latin Binomial

• Secondary authority– Cynodondactylon [L.] Pers.

• “Ex”M (Z i t if il Willd– Mascarenegrass (Zoysia tenuifoila Willd. ex Trin.)

• Multiple Latin names– Agrostis palustris Huds. = Agrostis stolonifera L.

Latin Binomial

• Multiple Latin names– Agrostis palustris Huds. = Agrostis stolonifera L.

• Creeping bentgrass– Agrostis alba L. = Agrostis gigantea With.Agrostis alba L. Agrostis gigantea With.

• Redtop

• Common (popular use) name = Latin name– Poa annua = Annual bluegrass– Poa trivialis = Rough bluegrass

Naming Plants

• Writing scientific names– Genus name

• Italics• Capitalized• Abbreviated

– Specific epithet• Italics• Lower case Myosotis sylvatica

M. sylvatica

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Naming Plants

• Writing scientific names– Subspecies

• Brassica oleracea subsp. gemmifera

– Variety• Sansevieria trifasciata

var. Laurentii

– Cultivar• Malus pumila

'Macintosh'

Naming Plants

• Naming hybrids– Contain both parents

genera names

Laeliocattleya = Laelia + Cattleya

Hybrids

• Interspecific Grass Hybrids– Cyndon dactylon x transvaalensis– Zoysia japonica x tenuifolia

Common Names

• (Poa pratensis L.) – Kentucky bluegrass in US– Fine-leaved meadowgrass in Europe

A ti ill i L• Agrostis capillaris L – Colonial bentgrass in US – Browntop bentgrass in Europe

Intraspecific subdivisions

• I. Wild Populations– ssp. subspecies– var. variety

f form– f. form• II.Cultivated Varieties

– cv. cultivar

Naming Plants

• Trinomial name for subspecies, varieties and cultivars – Subspecies occur in a different area or

habitathabitat– Varieties have small but consistent

differences– Cultivars occur only under cultivation

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Subspecies Examples

• Fescues– Festuca rubra L. ssp. comutata Gaud.– Festuca rubra L. ssp. trichophylla Gaud.

Festuca rubra L ssp rubra– Festuca rubra L. ssp. rubra

Variety examples

• Different biotypes of annual bluegrass– Poa annua L. var. annua– Poa annua L. var. reptans

Cultivar

• Cultivated – variety– Poa pratensis L. cv. Baron– Poa pratensis L. 'Baron‘ Morphology

Leaf Surfaces

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Leaf Tips

Pointed

Tapered

Boat-Shaped

Sharply pointed leaf tip of Red top

Pointed leaf tip of Centipedegrass

Rounded and tapered leaf tip St. Augustinegrass

Boat-shaped tip of Kentucky Bluegrass

Vernation

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Rolled vernation of Creeping Bentgrass

Folded vernation of Kentucky bluegrass

Ligule

TruncateMembranous

Fringe of Hairs

PointedMembranous

Minute, membranous, truncate ligule of Tall Fescue

Fringe of short hairs on Bermudagrass

Long, membranous, pointed ligule on Rough Bluegrass

Auricles

Long,Slender

Short,Blunt

Absent

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Long, pointed, clawlike auricles of Annual Ryegrass Very short, clawlike auricles

of Perennial Ryegrass

Short, blunt, and pubescent auricles of Tall Fescue

No auricles and a short, truncate ligule of Kentucky Bluegrass

Collar

Narrow Divided Broad

Narrow, continuous collar of Bermudagrass

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Broad, divided collar of Redtop Broad, continuous, and severely constricted collar or St. Augustinegrass