The Population Of Festuca Arundinaceae Sherb. The Cretaceous South Of The Middle Russian Uplands As A Starting Material For The Selection Of Grass Bearing Varieties

Abstract

Collected specimens of Festuca arundinaceae Sherb. (2014-2018). Source material for breeding was obtained as a result of expeditionary studies in the Belgorod region in different ecotopes of ravine and ravine complexes, floodplains of rivers, and technogenic-disturbed lands. Tests of breeding value of selected forms were carried out in comparison with released varieties of Russian (‘Olshanka’, ‘Ivitsa’, ‘Darina’) and foreign breeding (‘Finelawn’, ‘Meandre’). It has been established that the forms selected in natural habitats had wide limits of variation in all basic selection traits - Cv varied from 11.4% for traits ‘number of shoots on 1 plant’ and ‘number of productive shoots on 1 plant’ to 65.4% for the trait ‘color of knots’. Wild populations provide opportunities for selection of such important for selection on seed productivity traits as “number of seeds in one panicle” and “weight of 1000 seeds” - Cv = 12.1 % and 16.1 % accordingly. The results indicate the possibility of using the source material available in the collection to produce new lawn varieties with high seed productivity and ornamental value.