Root and shoot characteristics of prairie grass compared to tall fescue and smooth brome grass during establishment

Abstract

Abstract The root and top characteristics of ‘Grasslands Matua’ prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth) during establishment were compared with ‘Johnstone’ tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and ‘Saratoga’ smooth brome grass (Bromus inermis Leyss). ‘Grasslands Matua’ was slower to emerge than both tall fescue and smooth brome grass, but by first harvest (52 days after sowing), prairie grass had longer tillers (51 versus 38 and 26 cm), a greater number of seed heads (15 versus 0.3 and 0.1), and a higher stem/ leaf ratio (0.95 versus 0.14 and 0.01) than smooth brome grass and tall fescue, respectively. There were no differences in 2‐year mean tiller populations, leaf area, leaf yield, and stem yield between prairie grass and smooth brome grass at first harvest. Twenty days after sowing there were no differences in root length density among the three species. However, by first harvest, prairie grass at 20 cm depth had 135% of the root counts of the other two grasses. At 40 cm, prairie grass had 130 a...