CROWNE

ZOYSIAGRASS

CROWNE

ZOYSIAGRASS

Developed by

Texas A&M University

in cooperation with the

United States Golf Association

1996

Crowne Zoysiagrass

Petition to Release

PLANT MATERIALS RELEASE PROPOSAL SUMMARY FORM

Date 1 April 1996

1. CROP Zoysiagrass Type of Release Varietal

2. Proposed name or identification: Crowne

3. Designation or name in development stages: DALZ8512

4. Primary features or advantages: Crowne (Z. japonica Stued.) is a chance hybrid of the maternal clone Z20, obtained from Beltsville, Md in 1981, with an unknown pollen source from a zoysiagrass germplasm field nursery at TAES-Dallas. It is vegetatively propagated, uniform in growth expression and genetically stable (2n=40). Crowne is distinguished from other zoysiagrasses by its aggressive regrowth by rhizomes and stolons, medium-coarse texture, good winter hardiness, good-excellent shade tolerance, and low water use requirement. Crowne is highly competitive to weed invasion under low management conditions. The harvest cycle of Crowne can approach 8 - 12 months, in contrast to the industry standard "Meyer" which averages 15-24 months. Crowne has reasonably good salt tolerance. It's area of adaptation extends northward to north-central Kansas. We've initiated extensive testing at the Sears World Headquarters near Chicago in 1995 to further evaluate its area of adaptation. Crowne has performed exceptionally well under droughty conditions in central Kansas the past 2 years. Crowne has tested resistant to Pythium, and susceptible to Rhizoctonia blight. Crowne is moderately resistant to the tropical sod webworm and the zoysiagrass mite. It is susceptible to the Tawny mole cricket and the fall armyworm. Crowne differs from Palisades in its growth rate, and competitive ability under low maintenance conditions and it tends to scalp under close or infrequent mowing. Generally, Crowne lacks turf performance under close mowed conditions and is ideally suited for industrial parks, and road-sides.

5. Plant Variety Protection - suggested action: Certification required, process for Plant Patent as this is a vegetatively propagated species.

6. Planting Stock -- amount available and date: Approximately 1100 m² of breeder class sod will be available for harvest mid-June 1996. The 8300 m² of foundation grade sod, which is under the USDA fire ant compliance program, is presently available for harvest and distribution. All breeder and foundation grade planting stock are grown at Texas A&M Research and Extension Center - Dallas, TX.

7. Provisions to maintain breeder seed: Breeder stock will be maintained by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station - Dallas.

8. Proposed seed stock distribution: This grass is widely adapted to the Central and water quality and quantity is a problem. This variety would be well suited for release to an individual or Association where licensing and sub-licensing rights would be granted.

Submitted by:

Breeder and Scientists Unit Head - Mr. Randy Upshaw

M. C. Engelke, Ph. D. Mr. Randy Upshaw

In cooperation with

R. H. White P. F. Colbaugh J. A. Reinert Kenneth L. Marcum B. A. Ruemmele S. J. Morton

CROWNE ZOYSIAGRASS

M. C. Engelke, R. H. White, P. F. Colbaugh, J. A. Reinert, K. Marcum,

B. A. Ruemmele and S. J. Morton.

Zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) is native to the pacific rim countries with climatic extension of latitudes to 50^o. The genera has approximately 10 species recorded in the literature, however only seven different species have been collected and studied over the past 50 years, with three species having significance for turf. The primary species of interest are Z. japonica, Z. matrella, and Z. tenuifolia. The species biological adaptation ranges across environmental requiems similar to buffalograss, having excellent tolerance to temperature extremes and low moisture conditions. Generally speaking, the coarser textured species (Z. japonica) have excellent cold hardiness, whereas the finer textured species (Z. tenuifolia) generally lack winter hardiness. The genera is stable with 2n = 40 chromosomes. The zoysia's in general have low self fertility, and will intercross with other species. Speciation is primarily attributed to geographic distribution and floral niching. Zoysiagrass is noted for excellent salt tolerance, tolerance to temperature extremes, low fertility needs, and low moisture requirements. At the initiation of this Texas turfgrass breeding program there were three commercial cultivars of zoysiagrass available to the market, namely Meyer, Emerald and Midwest . The primary market area was in the Midwestern regions including Kansas, Missouri and Maryland. Major concerns with the use of the species was targeted toward cost and availability as the species was relatively slow to establish and the harvest cycles ranged from 15 -30 months. The objectives of the breeding program with Texas A&M and sponsored by the United States Golf Association was to develop cultivars which would fit the environmental niche of reduced water, nutrient and pesticide usage while simultaneous developing varieties which were more economical to produce.

'DALZ8512' ZOYSIAGRASS proposed name ' Crowne' is a coarse-textured, vegetatively propagated clone of Zoysia japonica which is noted specifically for its tolerance to drought conditions and low water use, excellent cold hardiness, and rapid recuperative ability. It is intermediate in salt tolerance. Crowne was developed and submitted for released by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in 1996. Crowne will be suitable for use as a warm-season turfgrass for golf course roughs, home lawns, industrial parks and highway right-of-ways throughout the central mid-western states. Optimum mowing height will range from 5.0 - 7.5 cm.

ORIGIN AND BREEDING HISTORY:

Crowne is a Zoysia japonica, and is a chance hybrid from a maternal clone Z20, and accession obtained from Beltsville, MD in 1981. Seed was harvested from an open pollinated maternal clone in a space plant nursery of 179 other zoysia accessions. The progeny populations were space planted for field evaluation. An individual clone was selected from the progeny populations and increased for further evaluation, and as DALZ8512. It is a vegetatively reproduced clone which was identified for its aggressive growth, good quality, and adaptability to low maintenance conditions. Its chromosome number is 2n=40. Crowne is noted for its prolific flower production, although it demonstrates low self fertility.

PERFORMANCE AND ADAPTATION:

Crowne has been evaluated in field, greenhouse and laboratory studies in conjunction with the United States Golf Association Zoysiagrass Improvement Program (USGA-ZIP) since 1983 and was included in the 1991 National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) along with 24 additional zoysiagrass varieties and cultivars. The NTEP trials were established at 23 distinct environments (locations) in 16 states (Table 1a). (Morris 1993, 1994) (Annual reports on file a the TAMU-Dallas and at USDA, BARC, Beltsville, MD). The various agronomic performance characters measured are summarized in Table 1b. The planned observations were identified by a committee of scientist familiar with the species and with the targeted utility. Observations were made monthly or seasonally for each of the characters listed at all locations.

Of the 24 varieties in the NTEP trials, 11 varieties were identified as Z. matrella and 13 were identified as Z. japonica (Table 2). In general the Z. matrella species is characterized as fine textured with either short or long leaf length. In contrast, the Z. japonica's have a wider leaf and will range for a short stubby leaf, to a longer broader leaf type such as Crowne. Turf quality ratings ranged from 4.1 - 6.1 averaged over 3 yrs and the 23 locations. Overall, Crowne ranked 10.5 out of 24 for turf quality (NTEP RANK - Table 2 - Column 7), tied with Palisades, with an average quality reading = 5.7, on a 1-9 scale, where 9 = ideal (Column 16). Quality ratings of the Z .japonica's ranged from 4.8 to 5.9 with Crowne near the top, averaging 5.7. When compared only with the 13 Z. japonica's, Crowne tied for 1st place ranking in overall turf performance (Table 2- TPI by species (Column 12)).

Recognition must be given to the diversity of climates in which the NTEP zoysiagrass trials were conducted (Table 3 - 1992, Table 4 - 1993 ). It is therefore recommended that attention be given to each of the regions and or unique environments of the trials to determine the "local" adaptability of the variety or cultivar under test. For example in the ranking of mean turfgrass performance across all NTEP test sites for 1992 (Table 3), Crowne ranked 5th of the 24 entries over 23 locations, yet by individual sites Crowne ranked 1st in Florida (Fl1), Kansas (KS2) and Carbondale, Illinois (Il1), 2nd under both environments in Georgia (Ga1 & Ga2) , Arizona (AZ1), and Texas (TX3) and as low as 18th in Urbana, Il (UB2). In 1993 (Table 4), Crowne ranked 11th overall with a 1st place ranking in Alabama (AL1), and 2nd place rankings in Arizona, Georgia (Ga2), Illinois (Il1), and Virginia (Va1), and as low as 21st in Missouri (Mo1). Obviously this grass has consistently excellent performance in some areas and poor performance in others. This will be characteristic of any cultivar due to local environmental or test conditions. Overall, this is one of the highest ranking Z. japonica's available. Crowne consistently out ranked Meyer, and Belair, and most frequently El Toro, the industry standards for a zoysia utility-turf.

OTHER IMPORTANT AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS:

WATER USE REQUIREMENTS: A long term goal of the turf breeding program at Texas A&M has been to develop turfgrasses which require less water through irrigation. Zoysiagrasses have traditionally be noted for their relatively low water use and general low maintenance requirements. Meyer, the current industry standard, was released in 1951. Concerns has been expressed over Meyer's suitability for today's turf industry, however, a primary objective of the zoysiagrass breeding program was to maintain or improve on the low cultural needs for new grasses as compared to Meyer. The Linear Gradient Irrigation System (LGIS) at TAES-Dallas was designed to assess water needs under natural environmental conditions (Fig. 1) (White et al. 1993). Studies were initiated in 1986 to evaluate the relative water requirements of numerous turfgrasses including 21 experimental and commercial varieties of Zoysia spp. The data for irrigation requirements from 1989 - 1991 indicated considerable differences among the 21 zoysiagrasses (Table 5). Based on the 3 year study, the mean irrigation required for El Toro was 48% of that required for Meyer, and about 67% of that required for Emerald. Both Crowne and Palisades would allow reductions in irrigation that are equal to or greater than for El Toro when compared to existing commercial cultivars.

Crowne has one of the lowest water requirements for sustained growth, as reflected in its performance under the LGIS over a 3-yr monitoring period. Long term low water use requirements in turf is manifested in a) prolonged color retention, b) persistence of turf cover, and 3) invasion of turf site with weeds. Note the consistency of turf color, cover and the absence of weed invasion in those varieties marked in Fig. 2.

In general, the lowest water use is among those cultivars with the longest and widest (textural class = 4) leaf texture (White et al, 1993). This includes cultivars such as Crowne, Palisades, and El Toro. It should be noted that considerable variation exist among the other textural classes as well. From a practical standpoint, we have noticed in the production fields that Crowne is one of the last plants to exhibit drought stress which further substantiates this lower water need to sustain growth.

SHADE TOLERANCE: Light, water and nutrition are key components of the environment required for plant growth and development. With adequate water and nutrition, light becomes the limiting factor. According to Dudeck and Peacock (1992) 20 - 25% of all existing turfs is maintained under some degree of shade from buildings, shrubs, or trees.

Zoysiagrass, a "C4" species generally demonstrates fair to good tolerance to low light conditions. However, low light tolerance appears to be under genetic control. This study was undertaken to identify the relative low light tolerance of the 24 varieties and/or cultivars of the 1991 NTEP trials. The study was conducted under live oak (Querus viriginianus Mill) shade with incoming radiation measured at approximately 10% of full sun light. Assessment of plant performance was based on density, texture, color, percent green cover, and percent turf cover over 3 years. The 46 observations (Table 6a) were taken over a period of 4 years are summarized (Table 6b) to show the relative shade tolerance of each grass in the study. Meyer the commercial standard is generally classified as having reasonable shade tolerance. By comparison, Crowne exhibited excellent shade tolerance and tied in 5th ranked among the 26 entries in the study while Meyer ranked 21st.

SALT TOLERANCE: Meyer has been considered the industry standard among zoysiagrasses and as such was considered to have a low water requirement and excellent salt tolerance. By comparison, Crowne & Palisades exhibited moderate tolerance to salt when compared to Diamond (DALZ8502) zoysiagrass (Marcum et al. 1994), and significantly more salt tolerance than Meyer. These studies were shown in a greenhouse study using a salinity ramping procedure where 1575 ppm NaCl was added daily to a hydroponic Hoagland's solution over a period of 12 weeks. The test included a total of 59 zoysiagrass entries. Only selected data are provided for the entries in the NTEP trials (Table 7). The moderate salt tolerance of Crowne combined with its low water use requirements further expands the utility of this grass and greater pressure is continually placed on turfgrass managers and consumers to use alternate water supplies; supplies which often have compromised water quality. Long term continued use of poor quality water will lead to elevated and often toxic salt levels in the root zone of the turf. Grasses with a low water requirement and moderate to high salinity tolerance as demonstrated by Crowne will find an important niche in low maintenance turf culture where marginal quality water resources are used.

COLOR RETENTION: Crowne (53.6) is only intermediate in its ability to maintain color during the winter but it was significantly better than Meyer (11.4)(Table 8). As a species, Z. japonica's is more cold tolerant and does better in its more northern natural habitat. These northern species have a natural tendency to enter into winter dormancy earlier than species which evolved in more tropical areas where Z. matrella and Z tenuifolia evolved. The finer textured, more tropical species will tend to have longer winter color retention, but, conversely are also more susceptible to winter injury. Crowne and entries above it (Table 8) provide moderate color through the 3 Jan 1995 evaluation while over half of the entries had already gone dormant.

PEST RESISTANCE:

Insects and Mites: Fall armyworm and tropical sod webworm can annually be very damaging to warm season turfgrass in the southern U.S. and particularly in the Southeast. The tawny mole cricket is the number one most damaging insect problem to turfgrass in the southern U.S. The zoysiagrass mite is a relatively new introduction for the Pacific Rim area where it is one of their major pests, and has the potential to cause considerable damage to its host specific grass. Insect response of Crowne is summarized in Table 9. Crowne appears to be susceptible to the fall armyworm (Reinert et al. 1994) and the tawny mole cricket (Braman et al. 1994). It is moderately resistant to the zoysiagrass mite (Reinert et al. 1993), and the tropical sod webworm (Reinert and Engelke 1992). In contrast, Meyer is susceptible to each of these pests. Although Meyer expressed resistance to neonate fall armyworm, it is susceptible to the later instars. Multiple insect resistance in Crowne may play a very important role in the success of zoysia as a turf species.

DISEASE: Common disease of zoysiagrasses include two viral diseases; Zoysia dwarf and Zoysia mosaic found in Japan (Smiley et al. 1992) and of fungal diseases including Zoysia rust (Puccinia zoysiae), and the yellow patch disease (Rhizoctonia cerealis) that are widely distributed fungal diseases. Susceptibility of Z. japonica to Sclerotinia Dollar Spot has also been observed (Smith et al. 1989).

Inoculation studies were conducted with 18 experimental and six commercial zoysiagrasses at TAMU-Dallas to determine their relative susceptibility to Rhizoctonia blight. Field collected zoysiagrass plugs were inoculated in a walk-in growth chamber over a 7-day period. Rhizoctonia blight susceptibility differed significantly among the genotypes in the study (Metz et al, 1994, 1995). Crowne was classified as susceptible to Rhizoctonia, but resistant to Pythium blight (Pythium aphanadermatum) which is a common foliar turfgrass pathogen in the southern growing zones. Results of this study indicated Crowne to be among the most Pythium resistant zoysiagrass genotypes (Colbaugh and Engelke 1993).

Crowne was not included in studies concerning Sclerotina dollar spot (Table 9). In general however it is believed that zoysiagrasses with fine leaf texture and high leaf density were generally more dollar spot susceptible that turfgrasses with coarser leaves and lower leaf density (Colbaugh and Engelke, 1993b).

Crowne has multiple pest resistance as summarized in Table 9 and is specifically noted for its resistant to the tropical sod webworm. The tropical sod webworm could present an economic problem as in many of the climates to which Crowne is adapted.

AGRONOMIC MERITS OF CROWNE

• MEDIUM-COARSE TEXTURE
• HIGH VISUAL QUALITY
• RAPID ESTABLISHMENT AND REGROWTH
• GOOD FALL COLOR RETENTION
• SHADE TOLERANT
• SALT TOLERANT
• COLD HARDY
• HEAT TOLERANT
• MOWING HEIGHT: 1.0 - 5.0 cm

UTILITY OF CROWNE

• HOME LAWNS

• INDUSTRIAL PARKS

• GOLF COURSE FAIRWAYS AND/OR ROUGHS

• HIGHWAY RIGHT-OF-WAY

• AIRPORT GROUNDS

• RECREATIONAL AREAS

AGRONOMIC LIMITATIONS OF CROWNE

• SUSCEPTIBLE TO RHIZOCTONIA

• TENDENCY TO SCALP

Table 1a. Listing of states participating in the 1991 Zoysiagrass National Turfgrass Evaluation Trials.

Table 1b. Listing of parameters evaluated which impacted the quality ratings reflected in Table 1.

Table 2. Quality ratings of the 1991 NTEP ZOYSIAGRASS TRIALS over a 3 yr period at 23 locations in 16 states. Data is presented as the rank in performance assigned by the NTEP for each year, the annual and accumulative (TTL) Turf Performance Index (TPI) calculated on the basis of LSD means separations, and the annual quality (1-9, where 9= best) for each of the 3 yrs. Sorted by TPI rank (3 yr avg).

Z. matrella's Finer Textured hybrid leaf types.

Z. japonica's Coarser textured leaf types.

NTEP Rank - based on mean performance over 24 locations each year. Listed by year, overall rank calculated based on simple mathematics. Ties are averaged.

TPI = Turf performance index, separately calculated based on LSD separations provided by NTEP and accumulated based on mean performance at 24 locations each year. Total TPI simple mathematical accumulation of TPI's from previous years.

^*Quality = mean performance of each grass over all locations each year. Simple means calculation to compute over all mean. ^** Tex = Texture from White et al. 1993

Table 3. Ranking Of Mean Turfgrass Quality Ratings Of Zoysiagrass Cultivars At Twenty-Two Locations In The United States^*

1992 DATA

QUALITY RANKINGS; 1=HIGHEST MEAN: STATE LOCATIONS REPORTING**

* This table contains no statistical values (LSD Values). Therefore it should only be used to determine the general performance of an entry or entries across several locations or regions. To assess statistical difference among entries, refer to the means and LSD values found in Table 1.

** Ranking of mean turfgrass quality is achieved by assigning "1" to the highest mean, "2" to the second highest mean, etc. For each location. For example, if two means are tied for second and third ranks, both are assigned "2.5".

Morris, 1993. National Zoysiagrass Test - 1991. Progress Report 1992. Nat. Turf Eval. Prog. NTEP No. 93-4: 9.

Table 4. Ranking Of Mean Turfgrass Quality Ratings Of Zoysiagrass Cultivars At Twenty-Two Locations In The United States^*

1993 DATA

QUALITY RANKINGS; 1=HIGHEST MEAN: STATE LOCATIONS REPORTING**

* This table contains no statistical values (LSD Values). Therefore it should only be used to determine the general performance of an entry or entries across several locations or regions. To assess statistical difference among entries, refer to the means and LSD values found in Table 1.

** Ranking of mean turfgrass quality is achieved by assigning "1" to the highest mean, "2" to the second highest mean, etc. For each location. For example, if two means are tied for second and third ranks, both are assigned "2.5".

Morris, 1994. National Zoysiagrass Test - 1991. Progress Report 1993. Nat. Turf Eval. Prog. NTEP No. 94-5:11.

Table 5. Supplemental irrigation water requirement for commercial and experimental zoysiagrasses during July 1989 through August 1991 at Dallas, Texas.*

MSD, minimum significant difference for comparison of means within columns based on the Waller-Duncan k-ratio t-test (k=100).

Total annual precipitation

*White, et al. 1993.

Table 6a. Listing of observations for 1992 - 1995 for the 1991 NTEP zoysiagrass shade trial at TAES-Dallas.

Table 6b. Accumulative performance index (PI) for 1992-1995, for the 1991 NTEP zoysiagrass trial planted under 90% shade at TAES-Dallas.

^* Seeded entry.

**PI = Performance Index is the frequency of occurrence in the top statistical group or when a variety is not statistically different from the top performing variety. Maximum number of observations = 49.

Table 7*. Average percent shoot salt injury (average of 20 rating dates) on zoysiagrass entries in the 1991 NTEP Trials. (From Marcum et al. 1994 CPR-5244) .

^*Selected data set; complete data set includes 59 varieties and cultivars.

NTEP= National Turfgrass Evaluation Program.

Species identity.

Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different, based on the Waller-Duncan k-ratio t-test (k-ratio=100)

^Seed propagated varieties.

Table 8. Green color retention (% of the turf that is green) during winter 1994-5 for the NTEP zoysiagrass trial planted at TAES-Dallas in August 1993.

^** TPI is the turf performanc index, or the number of times an entry was rated in the top statistical group. Statistical tests were performed on transformed data, but means of untransformed data are listed. Means in the top statistical group are indicated by an 'a

^* Seeded entry.

Table 9 . Summary of pest and disease resistance in selected zoysiagrasses.

R = resistant; M= moderately resistant; S = susceptible

Literature Cited

Dudeck, A. E. and C. H. Peacock. 1992. Shade and Turfgrass Culture. In D. V. Waddington, R. N. Carrow, and R. C. Shearman (eds.). Turfgrass Agron. Mono. No. 32: 269-284.

Braman, S. K., A. F. Pendley, R. N. Carrow and M. C. Engelke. 1994. Potential resistance in zoysiagrasses to the tawny mole crickets (Orthoptera:Gryllotalpidae) Fl. Entomol. 77(3): 301-305.

Colbaugh, P. F. and M. C. Engelke. 1992. Sclerotinia dollar spot on Inoculated zoysiagrasses. APS Biol. & Cult. Test Data 8: 126.

Colbaugh, P. F. and M. C. Engelke. 1993. Pythium Blight on Inoculated zoysiagrasses. APS Biol. & Cult. Test Data 8:125.

Colbaugh, P. F., S. P. Metz and M. C. Engelke. 1993. Pythium blight on inoculated zoysiagrasses. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5131: 86-87.

Colbaugh, P. F., S. P. Metz and M. C. Engelke. 1993. Sclerotinia dollarspot incidence on zoysiagrass. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5133: 89-90.

Colbaugh, P. F. and M. C. Engelke. 1993. Rhizoctonia Blight on Inoculated zoysiagrasses. APS BCT Test Data 8: 158.

Marcum, K. B., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton and C. Dayton. 1994. Salinity tolerances of selected bermudagrass and zoysiagrass genotypes. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5140: 105-107.

Metz, S. P., P. F. Colbaugh and M. C. Engelke. 1994. Rhizoctonia Blight on Inoculated zoysiagrasses. APS BCT Test Data 9: 158.

Metz, S. P., P.F. Colbaugh and M. C. Engelke. 1993. Rhizoctonia blight susceptibility among commercial and experimental zoysiagrasses. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1993, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5129: 82-83.

Morris, K. 1993. National zoysiagrass test - 1991, Progress report 1992. Nat. Turfgrass Eval. Prog. NTEP No. 93-4: 32p.

Morris, K. 1994. National zoysiagrass test - 1991, Progress report 1993. Nat. Turfgrass Eval. Prog. NTEP No. 94-5: 54p.

Morton, S. J., M. C. Engelke, and R. H. White. 1991. Performance of four warm-season turfgrass genera cultured in dense shade. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1991, Consolidated Prog Rep. PR-4894: 51-52.

Morton, S. J. and M. C. Engelke. 1994. Performance of three warm-season turfgrass genera cultured in shade. III. Zoysia spp. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1993, Consolidated Prog Rep. PR 5139:102-104.

Morton, S. J., M. C. Engelke, and K. G. Porter. 1994a. Performance of three warm-season turfgrass genera cultured in shade. III. Zoysia spp. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1994, Consolidated Prog Rep. PR 5242: 27-29.

Morton, S. J., T. Stanton, and M. C. Engelke 1994b. Zoysiagrass shade tolerance. TX Turfgrass Res. - 1994, Consolidated Prog Rep. PR 5244: 30-32.

Reinert, J. A. and M. C. Engelke. 1992. Resistance in zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) To the tropical sod webworm (Herptegramma pheopteralis). TX Turfgrass Research-1992, Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 4996: 55-57.

Reinert, J. A., M. C. Engelke, and S. J. Morton. 1993. Zoysiagrass resistance to the zoysiagrass mite, Eriophyes zoysiae (Acari:Eriopyidae) . Int. Turfgrass Soc. Res. J. 7: 349-352.

Reinert, J. A., M. C. Engelke, S. J. Morton, P.S. Graff, and B. R. Wiseman. 1994. Resistance in zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp) to the fall army worm (Spodoptera frugiperda). TX Turfgrass Research-1992. Consolidated Prog. Rep. PR 5248: 39-42.

Smiley, R. W., P. H. Dernoeden and B. B. Clarke. 1992. Compendium of Turf Diseases. A.P.S. Press: Minneapolis. 98p

Smith, J. D., N. Jackson and A. R. Woolhouse, 1989. Fungal disease of Anmenity Turfgrasses. E. & F.N. Spong: London. 401 p.

White, R. H. M. C. Engelke, S.J. Morton, and B.A. Ruemmele, 1993. Irrigation water requirement of zoysiagrass. In Int. Turfgrass Soc. Res. J. 7. R. N. Carrow et al. (Eds). Intertec Pub. Corp., Overland Park, KS. Chap. 83: 587-593.

USGA Semi-Annual and Annual Research Reports 1985 - 1995 . (Reports on file at TAES, Dallas and USGA, Far Hills NJ). All information can be provided as necessary. Data presented supports the primary features and merits of the grass.

Figure 1. Linear Gradient Irrigation System aerial view under summer stress (July 1990).

Figure 2. Close up of individual entries of zoysiagrass under LGIS water treatment.

Copyright © 2000 Texas A&M University / M.C. Engelke & Sean Pease. All rights reserved.
Revised: May 22, 2003 .