Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)
2. REPORT DATE
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
August 1997
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
The Effects of Temperature on Germination of
Eleven Festuca Cultivars
6. AUTHORS
Antonio J. Palazzo and Gurdarshan S. Brar
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
Special Report 97-19
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
Office of the Chief of Engineers
Washington, D.C. 20314-1000
For conversion of SI units to non-SI units of measurement consult Standard Practice for Use of the
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
International System of Units (SI), ASTM Standard E380-93, published by the American Society for Testing and Materials,
1916 Race St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103.1
12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)
Many studies have shown that water potential at planting affects the germination rate and final germination of
Festuca cultivars. Limited information is available about the extent of variability in temperature-dependence of
germination among different Festuca cultivars. Our objective was to study germination at five temperatures for a
wide range of Festuca cultivars. Festuca seeds were screened for germination during 28 days in polyethylene
growth pouches held at constant temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30C. The germination percentage significantly
(p < 0.05) increased as the temperature increased from 10 to 15C, when averaged across the cultivars, and
decreased thereafter. The cultivar "Clemfine" tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) had the greatest ger-
mination percentage, and "Arctared" red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) had the least when averaged across the five
temperatures. Conversely, the average time to germination (Atg) was greatest at 10C and least at 30C. Reaching
a germination level of 80% or more of the seeds required 14 days at 10C, 9 d at 15C, 8 d at 20C, and 7 d at 25 or
30C. Base temperatures required for germination of Festuca species were 3.2C for rapid germinators, 3.6 to 6C
for medium germinators, and 4 to 6C for poor germinators. Heat units (growing degree-days >10C) calculated
for the rapid germinators were 129C-d, 120 to 140C-d for medium germinators, and 135 to 191C-d for the poor
germinators. Germination decreased as heat units were increased. The Atg and heat unit regressions explained
14. SUBJECT TERMS
15. NUMBER OF PAGES
11
Festuca cultivars
Germination
Temperature
16. PRICE CODE
17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT
OF REPORT
OF THIS PAGE
OF ABSTRACT
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UL
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
NSN 7540-01-280-5500
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18
298-102
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