Registration of 'DALSA 1618' St. Augustinegrass

Authors: CHANDRA, AMBIKA - Texas A&M Agrilife; GENOVESI, DENNIS - Texas A&M Agrilife; MEEKS, MEGHYN - Texas A&M Agrilife; SEGARS, CHRISSIE - Texas A&M Agrilife; EADS, JUSTINE - Texas A&M Agrilife; Hejl, Reagan; FLOYD, WESTON - Texas A&M Agrilife; WHERLEY, BENJAMIN - Texas A&M Agrilife; STRAW, CHASE - Texas A&M Agrilife; BOWLING, REBECCA - Texas A&M Agrilife; KENWORTHY, KEVIN - University Of Florida; SCHWARTZ, BRIAN - University Of Georgia; RAYMER, PAUL - University Of Georgia; MILLA-LEWIS, SUSANA - North Carolina State University; WU, YANQI - Oklahoma State University

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2023
Publication Date: 7/10/2023
Citation: Chandra, A., Genovesi, D., Meeks, M., Segars, C., Eads, J., Hejl, R.W., Floyd, W., Wherley, B., Straw, C., Bowling, R., Kenworthy, K., Schwartz, B., Raymer, P., Milla-Lewis, S., Wu, Y. 2023. Registration of 'DALSA 1618' St. Augustinegrass. Journal of Plant Registrations. 17(3):488-498. https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20302.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/plr2.20302

Interpretive Summary: St. Augustinegrass is widely used turfgrass species in the southern and coastal regions of the United States. DALSA 1618 is a new St. Augustinegrass developed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Turfgrass breeding program in Dallas, Texas by crossing a drought resistant parent and a shade tolerant pollen donor. After demonstrating superior performance in multiple nursery studies from 2010 to 2015, DALSA 1618 was advanced in to trials where it was tested in 10 locations across the southcentral and southeastern United States from 2016 to 2020. Across testing locations, DALSA 1618 exhibited high turfgrass quality and establishment rates comparable to commercially available cultivars. In comparison to Floratam, a cultivar known for drought resistance, DALSA 1618 showed more rapid spring greenup, similar drought resistance, and improved shade tolerance. DALSA 1618 was also found to posses similar tolerance to commonly faced diseases such as large patch and gray leaf spot compared to other tested cultivars. These results indicate that DALSA 1618 possesses a unique combination of drought and shade tolerance that allows for use across the southcentral and southeastern United States.

Technical Abstract: DALSA 1618 (Reg. No. XXX, PI XXX) is a first generation intraspecific St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walt.) Kuntze) hybrid developed by Texas A&M AgriLife Research in Dallas, TX from a cross between a drought resistant polyploid female parent, TAES 5384 (PI 300130, GRIN NPGS), and a semi-dwarf shade tolerant diploid pollen donor, ‘Amerishade’. DALSA 1618 was formerly tested as ‘TAES 5896-09’ and ‘TXSA-156’. Superior performance and quality from 2010 to 2015 in space-plant nurseries across multiple environments led to advancing DALSA 1618 to replicated trials in 10 NTEP (national turfgrass evaluation program) locations across the southcentral and southeastern United States. DALSA 1618 was one of the top performers in the 2016 NTEP (2016-2020). It established faster than ‘CitraBlue’ and similarly to other tested commercial cultivars. DALSA 1618 exhibited high turfgrass quality in standard and ancillary trials, and earlier spring greenup which was generally better than ‘Floratam’. Drought resistance of DALSA 1618 was similar to Floratam (a drought resistant aneuploid). Tolerance to moderately dense shade was tested in Dallas, Texas from 2017 to 2020 where DALSA 1618 exhibited improved shade tolerance relative to Floratam. This array of environmental testing indicates DALSA 1618 possesses a unique combination of drought and shade tolerance that would allow its use across the southcentral and southeastern United States.