International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 11, 82-94
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forming a dense
The leaves are flat, tough-textured, glabrous, with wide blades. The stems are 20–75 cm tall.
Th
are V-shaped consisting of two spike-lik
containing multiple tiny spikelets.
Varieties:
Diploid cultivars: ‘Pensacola’, ‘Tifton 9’, ‘TifQuik’, and ‘UF-Riata’.
Tetraploid varieties: ‘Paraguay’, ‘Argentine’, and ‘Common’.
Importance and uses: It is primarily used for pasture and hay production for livestock management. Other uses are
wildlife habitat, erosion control, phytoremediation of phosphorus impacted soils, and integrated pest management
of nematodes and fungal diseases when used in rotation with annual crops. Bahiagrass is drought resistant turf. It
does well in lawns and along highways.
3.2 Bermuda grass (
Cynodon dactylon
)
(Fishel and Coats, 1994; Samples and Sorochan, 2007)
Description: It is a native of Africa. Dub grass is a highly sod forming perennial that spreads by stolons, rhizomes
and seed. Stolons readily develop at the nodes. Lateral buds arise at the nodes to give out erect or ascending stems,
5 to 40 cm in height. In most
Cynodon
sp., leaves are arranged on stems with long internodes alternating with one
or more very short internodes and form multiple-leaved nodes. Leaf sheaths are round, loose, split, smooth,
sparsely hairy, and up to 15 cm long. Auricles are absent. Collar is continuous, narrow, glabrous and hairy on
margins. Leaf blades are smooth to sparsely pubescent, folded or loosely rolled in the bud and sharply-pointed.
The inflorescence bear 3 to 7 spikes in a single whorl in a finger like arrangement. In robust forms, there may be
up to 10 spikes, sometimes in two whorls. Spikelets are in arranged in 2 rows tightly appressed to one side of the
rachis; lemma is boot-shaped, acute with fringe of hairs on the keel and longer than the glume; seed is oval, straw
to red-colored and free within the lemma and palea. This grass has a fibrous, perennial root system with vigorous,
deep rhizomes. Roots are arose at the nodes after new leaves or tillers are produced during the growing season and
after new shoots are produced in the spring. Mature roots are yellow to brown while new roots are white in colour.
Varieties:
Seeded varieties: ‘Jackpot’, ‘U-3’, ‘Aanta Anna’, ‘Ormund’, ‘Uma’, ‘Princess-77’, ‘Sahara’, ‘Savannah’, ‘Sultan’,
‘Sundance’, ‘Sydney’, ‘Triangle Blend’, ‘Yukon’, ‘La Prima’, ‘Riviera’, ‘Common’, ‘Giant’ and
‘Transcontinental’.
Hybrids: Hybrid Bermuda grasses are the progeny of interspecific crosses of
Cynodon dactylon
and
Cynodon
transvaalensis
. These hybrids are seed sterile and should be propagated by sprigs, stolons, or sodding. Popular
hybrids are ‘Sunturf’, ‘Celebration’, ‘GN-1’, ‘Tifway’, ‘Tifway-II’, ‘Tifgreen’, ‘Tifdwarf’, ‘Tifsport’, ‘Tiflawn’,
‘Pee Dee’, ‘Tifton 44’, ‘Tifton 68’, ‘Tifton 85’, ‘Tifton 78’, ‘Coastal’.
Ultra-dwarf hybrids: ‘Floradwarf’, ‘Miniverde’, ‘TifEagle’.
Importance and uses: This grass has numerous turf uses. It is used to prevent soil erosion, to stabilize ditch banks,
roadsides and airfields, to beautify landscapes and to provide a smooth, resilient playing surface for sports fields
and playgrounds. Bermuda grass also produces hay and pasture for livestock throughout the tropical and
subtropical areas of the world. Turf uses of common Dub grass include sports fields, lawns, parks, playgrounds,
golf course fairways, roadsides, cemeteries, and other general purpose turf. Hybrid bermuda grass and selections
of common bermudagrass are utilized for special purposes such as sports fields, golf greens, bowling greens,
tennis courts, and lawns. A dense bermuda grass turf can tolerate moderate wear and compaction and recover
quickly from wear injury.
Bermudagrass is a main turf species for sports fields, lawns, parks, golf courses, and general utility turfs in
Australia, Africa, India, South America and the Southern region of the United States. It is available in over 100
counties throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. This species gives a vigorous, low-growing
turfgrass stand with high density and tolerances to both traffic and drought stress. Hybrid bermuda grasses provide
