Evaluation of the suitability of Festuca rubra L. and F. nigrescens Lam. ecotypes as a material for lawn grass breeding

In the years 2004-2006, 37 F. rubra L. ecotypes and 35 F. nigrescens Lam. ecotypes were evaluated for their main lawn traits: the general aspect of the plant, slow re-growth, overwintering, winter greenness, leaf fineness and disease resistance. The lawn properties of the ecotypes were assessed with the use of the IHAR 9-grade scale of the visual quality classification system. The study individuals were compared with the model varieties: F. rubra ‘Areta’ and F. nigrescens ‘Nimba’. The ecotypes originated from natural localities in the Lublin region. The experiment was conducted using the method of randomly chosen blocks in three repetitions. One repetition contained six plants of one ecotype grown at a distance of 75 × 30 cm. The aim of the study was to analyze the variability of lawn traits in the examined F. rubra and F. nigrescens ecotypes and to estimate the suitability of the selected material for the breeding of new lawn varieties. Analyses indicated that most of the ecotypes that grow in natural localities in the Lublin region display high-grade lawn traits. This confirms the great suitability of the wild plants for further breeding. Ecotypes of both species obtained high scores comparable with model varieties for their disease resistance, leaf fineness and winter greenness, and also for general aspect and slow re-growth.