The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Poa
pratensis which has been designated Ba 62-55-M and is now named Merit
Kentucky bluegrass. Merit plant material was one of several biotypes
selected out of an old established turf area in southern California. Turf
performance evaluations of these types were made which resulted in
selecting the best turf type. This final selection resulted in one plant
type which is now called Merit. Seed of Merit was produced first at
Marysville, Ohio, then Salem and Gervais, Oreg. This seed was used to
plant turf trials for evaluation of turf performance. Variety evaluation
trials were established at Marysville, Ohio; Accokeek, Md.; Long Beach and
Somis, Calif.; Gervais, Oreg.; St. Louis, Mo.; Bolton, Mass. and the
province of Ontario, Canada.
Merit Kentucky bluegrass reproduces asexually both by propagules (tillers
and rhizomes) and disseminules (modified coryopses produced by
agomospermy) and has consistently produced progeny plants
indistinguishable from the mother plant.
Merit has a number of highly desirable characteristics including a good
level of resistance to Helminthosporium spp and Sclerotinia homoeocarpa,
has a decumbent growth habit and will tolerate low heights of cut. It has
a pleasing dark blue green color and produces a good dense turf that
persists over a wide range of environmental conditions.
FIG. 1 is a photograph of Merit Kentucky bluegrass maintained under turf
management conditions;
FIG. 2 is a Merit Kentucky bluegrass clone in early spring at Gervais,
Oreg.;
FIG. 3 is a Merit Kentucky bluegrass clone after anthesis at Gervais,
Oregon; and
FIG. 4 is a Merit Kentucky bluegrass panicle.
The morphological characteristics of Merit and other commercially available
bluegrass varieties are compared in Table 1. As shown by Table 1, the
morphological characteristics of Merit afford a basis for distinguishing
it from other bluegrass varieties.
| TABLE 1
|
| ______________________________________
|
| MORPHOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF MERIT AND
|
| OTHER KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| No. of
|
| No. of No. of No. of Nodes
|
| Panicle Panicle Branches Spikelets
|
| Per
|
| Length Branch Per Whorl Per Whorl
|
| Plant
|
| Variety
|
| in cm. Whorls Lowest
|
| 3rd Lowest
|
| 3rd Stem
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 9.0 8.4 5.4 4.2 52.6 29.6 1.8
|
| Merion 10.3 7.2 3.4 3.4 42.2 27.6 2.6
|
| Newport
|
| 10.9 9.4 3.8 3.6 33.6 18.8 2.4
|
| Bristol
|
| 11.7 8.4 3.4 2.6 38.0 23.2 4.0
|
| Leaf Blade Width*
|
| Length of No. of Measured 2 cm.
|
| Top Internode
|
| Florets From end of Boat
|
| Variety in cm. Per Spikelet
|
| Tip Leaf
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 22.2 4.98 2.50 mn
|
| Merion 33.6 3.98 2.07 mn
|
| Newport 38.6 3.02 2.39 mn
|
| Bristol 34.9 5.42 2.52 mn
|
| ______________________________________
|
| *Leaf blade width of plants maintained under mowed turf conditions (3.8 c
|
| to 6.4 cm)
|
Mowed plots have been evaluated under turf conditions in many different
tests and at numerous locations. Turfgrass performance information
presented indicates the distinctiveness of Merit compared to other
bluegrass varieties and its desirable characteristics and persistence.
Seed germination rate and seedling establishment are important factors in a
new seedling. Kentucky bluegrasses are recognized for their slowness to
germinate and establish compared to other turfgrass species. Differences
do occur in germination rates between Kentucky bluegrass varieties. The
variety Merion has been rated as slow to germinate whereas the variety
Park is normally considered as a faster germinating bluegrass variety. In
controlled laboratory tests and field evaluations Merit was rated above
Merion and equal to Park in controlled conditions and below Park in actual
field conditions. See Tables 2, 3 and 4.
| TABLE 2.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE GERMINATION PERCENTAGES OF VARI-
|
| OUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES UNDER
|
| CONTROLLED CONDITIONS USING LABORATORY
|
| GERMINATING CABINET.
|
| Days After Seeding
|
| Variety 7 10 15 21
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 55% 77% 81% 85%
|
| Victa 54% 71% 83% 88%
|
| Park 50% 65% 81% 85%
|
| Merion 14% 24% 60% 72%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale: Number indicates percent of seeds that germinated.
|
| Germinating Conditions:
|
| Temperature 15°C for 16 hours - dark
|
| 25°C for 8 hours - light
|
| 100 seeds per replication - 3 replications
|
| TABLE 3.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERGE GERMINATION PERCENTAGES OF VARI-
|
| OUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES SEEDED IN -MID SUMMER UNDER FIELD
|
| CONDITIONS.
|
| Days After Seeding
|
| Variety 6 8 15
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 0% 25% 78%
|
| Victa 0% 42% 78%
|
| Park 0% 43% 84%
|
| Merion 0% 19% 65%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent germination made by visual estimates of three
|
| replications.
|
| TABLE 4.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE GERMINATION PERCENTAGES OF
|
| VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| SEEDED IN LATE FALL UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS.
|
| Days After Seeding
|
| Variety 8 21 32
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 0% 59% 78%
|
| Victa 0% 80% 90%
|
| Park 0% 70% 83%
|
| Merion 0% 37% 64%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent germination by visual estimates of three
|
| replications.
|
Leafspot (Helminthosporium spp) diseases cause severe plant damage and
thinning of bluegrass turf in most locations in the Northern United States
and Canada during the months of April, May and June of each year. Table 5
provides leaf spot information in the spring on two year old turf grown at
Marysville, Ohio. Merion and Fylking are recognized as having an
acceptable and a good level of resistance to leaf spot diseases. The
common types of Kentucky bluegrass varieties such as Kenblue are quite
susceptible to leaf spot disease. In Table 5 Merit is seen to be equal to
or slightly lower in resistance than Merion or Fylking but significantly
more resistant than Kenblue.
| TABLE 5.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| LEAF SPOT (Helminthosporium spp) INCIDENCE
|
| OF TWO YEAR OLD TURF OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES.
|
| Percent Leaf Spot
|
| Variety April May June
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 15% 23% 25%
|
| Kenblue 50% 60% 50%
|
| Merion 15% 20% 15%
|
| Fylking 20% 20% 20%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with leaf spot.
|
Rating leaf spot diseases for the entire growing season in two consecutive
years Merit again demonstrates that it has good resistance compared to
other known varieties. See Tables 6 and 7.
| TABLE 6.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE LEAF SPOT (Helminthosporium spp)
|
| INCIDENCE OF ONE YEAR OLD TURF
|
| OF VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES.
|
| Avg. Percent Leaf Spot Incidence
|
| Variety for Entire Year
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 22%
|
| Kenblue 48%
|
| Merion 30%
|
| Pennstar 25%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with leaf spot.
|
| TABLE 7.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE LEAF SPOT (Helminthosporium spp) INCIDENCE
|
| OF TWO YEAR OLD TURF OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETY.
|
| Avg. Percent Leaf Spot Incidence
|
| Variety for Entire Year
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 31%
|
| Kenblue 63%
|
| Merion 28%
|
| Pennstar 30%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with leaf spot.
|
Good leaf spot resistance was also noted in 3 year old turf plots at
Accokeek, Maryland. (Table 8).
| TABLE 8.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| LEAFSPOT (Helminthosporium spp) INCIDENCE OF THREE
|
| YEAR OLD TURF OF VARIOUS BLUEGRASS
|
| VARIETIES AT ACCOKEEK, MARYLAND.
|
| Variety Percent Leaf Spot
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 13%
|
| Kenblue 60%
|
| Merion 8%
|
| Victa 10%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with leaf spot.
|
Further demonstrating that Merit has a good level of leaf spot resistance
over a wide range of environmental conditions seedings were installed in
various locations in Ontario, Canada. Table 9 provides leaf spot
resistance data of one year old turf in Ontario, Canada, again indicating
that the level of resistance is comparable to known resistant varieties.
| TABLE 9.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| LEAF SPOT (Helminthosporium spp)
|
| INCIDENCE IN EARLY SUMMER OF ONE YEAR
|
| OLD TURF IN ONTARIO, CANADA, OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| Variety Percent Leaf Spot
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 10%
|
| Kenblue 44%
|
| Merion 10%
|
| Flyking 4%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with leaf spot.
|
Dollar spot (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa) is unsightly and can cause damage if
infestation is severe. Dollar spot normally occurs in mid to late summer
on Kentucky bluegrass and progresses from very small initial spots of dead
turf to circular, straw colored areas 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Affected
leaves at first show yellow-green blotches, which become water-soaked and
finally bleach to a strain colored tan. Merit has shown good resistance to
dollar spot with minimum amount of infestation during peak times of the
year. Tables 10 and 11 show a good level of dollar spot resistance of
Merit compared to other varieties. Fylking and Nugget are normally
considered as being susceptible varieties and the common types such as
Kenblue being resistant.
| TABLE 10.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| DOLLARSPOT (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa) INCIDENCE
|
| OF TWO YEAR OLD TURF OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARITIES
|
| Variety Percent Dollar Spot
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 4%
|
| Kenblue 0%
|
| Nugget 20%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with dollar spot.
|
| TABLE 11.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| DOLLAR SPOT (Sclerotinia homoeocarpa) INCIDENCE OF
|
| VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES AT
|
| ACCOKEEK, MARYLAND
|
| Variety Percent Dollar Spot
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 16%
|
| Kenblue 7%
|
| Fylking 42%
|
| Nugget 23%
|
| Merion 11%
|
| Bristol 5%
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of leaves infected with dollar spot.
|
Merit can be characterized as moderately slow to green up in early spring
(Tables 12 and 13).
| TABLE 12.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| EARLY SPRING GREEN UP OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| Variety Early Spring Color
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 4.1
|
| Kenblue 6.4
|
| Vantage 6.4
|
| Victa 4.1
|
| Nugget 1.8
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| 1 = straw colored
|
| 10 = dark green.
|
| TABLE 13.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| EARLY SPRING GREEN UP OF VARIOUS
|
| KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES AT
|
| ACCOKEEK, MARYLAND
|
| Variety Early Spring Color
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 3.0
|
| Vantage 4.0
|
| Kenblue 4.3
|
| Merion 2.8
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| 1 = straw colored
|
| 10 = dark green.
|
Kenblue and Vantage are known to be one of the first to break winter
dormancy and turn green with Merion being late and Nugget very late. When
greening is complete Merit has a very dark distinctive blue-green color in
the spring compared to other varieties. The depth of its color is shown in
Table 14.
| TABLE 14.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| SPRING COLOR OF VARIOUS BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| AFTER COMPLETE WINTER DORMANCY HAS
|
| BEEN BROKEN AT ACCOKEEK, MARYLAND
|
| Variety Spring Color
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 9.5
|
| Vantage 8.0
|
| Kenblue 7.5
|
| Merion 9.3
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| 1 = straw colored
|
| 10 = dark green.
|
Merit has a moderate to low vertical growth habit which makes its use as a
turfgrass quite acceptable. Clippings are not excessive when maintained at
a turf cutting height and mowed at normal frequent intervals such as 7 to
10 days during active growth. This moderate vertical growth habit can be
demonstrated from seedling stage to turf use conditions to mature plant
height when seed heads are produced (Tables 15, 16 and 17).
| TABLE 15.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| SEEDLING GROWTH HABIT SIX
|
| WEEKS AFTER SEEDING
|
| Variety Growth Habit
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 1.8
|
| Kenblue 3.4
|
| Vantage 2.5
|
| Bristol 1.8
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| 1 = low growing
|
| 4 = tall.
|
| TABLE 16.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| PLANT HEIGHT REGROWTH OF VARIOUS BLUEGRASS
|
| VARIETIES ONE WEEK AFTER MOVING
|
| AT 38 mm IN AUGUST
|
| Variety Plant Height in mm
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 86
|
| Kenblue 96
|
| Merion 77
|
| Bristol 69
|
| Newport 92
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates length of leaf from ground level to end of leaf.
|
| TABLE 17
|
| ______________________________________
|
| MATURE PLANT HEIGHT INCLUDING PANICLE
|
| OF VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| GROWN AT MARYSVILLE, OHIO
|
| Variety Mature Plant Height in Centimeters
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 42 cm.
|
| Bristol 47 cm.
|
| Park 67 cm.
|
| Kenblue 64 cm.
|
| Merion 44 cm.
|
| Bonnieblue 36 cm.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates length of plant from ground to top of panicle.
|
Turf quality, a rating taking all turfgrass performance characteristics
together and assigning it a value, was measured at Ontario, Canada;
Accokeek, Md. and Marysville, Ohio. A rating scale of 1 to 4 was used with
4 being the best turf. Merit is rated as moderate to good performance in
all locations, outperforming the common type varieties and slightly below
the recognized improved types (Tables 18, 19 and 20).
| TABLE 18.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE TURF QUALITY RATING FOR
|
| ENTIRE GROWING SEASON OF ONE YEAR
|
| OLD TURF IN ONTARIO, Canada
|
| Avg. Turf Quality Ratings for
|
| Variety Entire Growing Season
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 2.1
|
| Kenblue 1.8
|
| Merion 2.2
|
| Fylking 2.3
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating:
|
| 1 - Poor
|
| 4 - Excellent.
|
| TABLE 19.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| TURF QUALITY OF TWO YEAR OLD TURF
|
| OF VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| IN MAY AT MARYSVILLE, OHIO.
|
| Variety Turf Quality
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 2.0
|
| Bristol 2.5
|
| Kenblue 1.5
|
| Newport 1.9
|
| Fylking 2.0
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| 1 - Poor
|
| 4 - Excellent.
|
| TABLE 20.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| AVERAGE TURF QUALITY FOR ENTIRE
|
| GROWING SEASON OF TWO YEAR OLD
|
| TURF AT ACCOKEEK, MARYLAND
|
| Variety Turf Quality
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 2.6
|
| Merion 2.8
|
| Victa 2.9
|
| Kenblue 2.0
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating scale:
|
| 1 - Poor
|
| 4 - Excellent.
|
Ten randomly selected seeds of various varieties were laid end to end to
obtain total length of the 10 seeds. Merit was shortest in length (27.5
mm) compared to five other varieties. In measuring these same ten seeds as
to width by placing them side by side Merit was second widest (7.5 mm) of
the group (Table 21), therefore indicating that Merit seed may be
distinguished as being a short wide seed. Merit is further distinguished
in that it exhibits high seed-set and high seed yield.
| TABLE 21.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| SEED LENGTH AND WIDTH OF TEN RANDOMLY
|
| SELECTED SEEDS LAYED END TO END
|
| AND SIDE BY SIDE RESPECTIVELY OF
|
| VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS VARIETIES
|
| Variety Length in mm Width in mm
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 27.5 mm 7.5 mm
|
| Fylking 29.8 mm 7.2 mm
|
| Park 29.3 mm 6.5 mm
|
| Kenblue 29.0 mm 6.7 mm
|
| Bristol 28.7 mm 8.5 mm
|
| ______________________________________
|
In seed yield trials under same growing conditions at Gervais, Oreg.,
differences were noted between varieties in respect to time in heading and
anthesis compared to other varieties evaluated (Tables 22 and 23).
| TABLE 22.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| PERCENT HEADING AT DIFFERENT DATES
|
| OF VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS
|
| VARIETIES AT GERVAIS, OREGON
|
| Variety
|
| April 29 May 3 May 7 May 10
|
| May 17
|
| May 19
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 2 25 75 95
|
| Vantage
|
| 40 90 95 95 100 100
|
| Victa 2 10 45 95
|
| Bristol
|
| 5 10 25 90 95 100
|
| Windsor 10 50 90 95 100
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of plants that are heading out.
|
| TABLE 23.
|
| ______________________________________
|
| PERCENT ANTHESIS AT DIFFERENT DATES OF
|
| VARIOUS KENTUCKY BLUEGRASS
|
| VARIETIES AT GERVAIS, OREGON
|
| Variety
|
| May 21 May 25 May 27 May 30
|
| June 2
|
| June 4
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Merit 1 25 25 50 100
|
| Vantage
|
| 25 40 60 100
|
| Victa 1 30 30 100
|
| Bristol
|
| 40 80 90 100
|
| Windsor 5 30 50 100
|
| ______________________________________
|
| Rating Scale:
|
| Number indicates percent of plants that are flowering.
|
Mayer, Eugene W., Fuchigami, Torao T.
| Patent |
Priority |
Assignee |
Title |
| PP10080, |
Jul 15 1996 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
`BA 77 700` Kentucky Bluegrass |
| PP10081, |
Jul 15 1996 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
`BA 78-165` Kentucky Bluegrass |
| PP10384, |
Dec 10 1996 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Ba 78-258 Kentucky Bluegrass |
| PP10925, |
Oct 14 1997 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky Bluegrass, named `Ba74-17` |
| PP11520, |
Jul 22 1998 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky bluegrass designated `Ba79-260` |
| PP11536, |
Feb 27 1998 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky bluegrass designated `Ba87-102` |
| PP11647, |
Jul 22 1998 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky bluegrass designated `Ba76-372` |
| PP11987, |
May 24 2000 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky bluegrass designated `Ba75-173` |
| PP12435, |
Nov 10 2000 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Kentucky bluegrass designated `Ba81-227` |
| PP18439, |
Aug 19 2005 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Hybrid variety of (Texas Bluegrass×Kentucky Bluegrass)×Kentucky Bluegrass designated ‘HB 329’ |
| PP18467, |
Aug 06 2004 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Hybrid variety of Texas X kentucky bluegrass designated ‘HB 129’ |
| PP21045, |
Feb 22 2008 |
OMS INVESTMENTS, INC |
Hybrid variety of Texas×Kentucky bluegrass designated ‘HB 128’ |
| PP9036, |
Sep 23 1993 |
The O. M. Scott and Sons Company |
BA 73-366 Kentucky bluegrass |
| PP9611, |
May 30 1995 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
`Ba 69-82 ` Kentucky Bluegrass |
| PP9848, |
Sep 25 1995 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
`BA-74-114` Kentucky Bluegrass |
| PP9977, |
Feb 23 1996 |
OMS Investments, Inc. |
Ba 77-279 Kentucky Bluegrass |
| Patent |
Priority |
Assignee |
Title |
| Date |
Maintenance Fee Events |
n/a
| Date |
Maintenance Schedule |
n/a