Golfdom, April 2010

V A R I E T Y C L A S S I F I C A T I O N When Is Fescue Not a Festuca Debate ensues over changing classification of grass variety By Curt Harler Managing Editor S ince forever or at least since most 60 TURFGRASS TRENDS A p r i l 2 0 1 0 www turfgrasstrends com PHOTO BY STEPHANIE RICCA Taxonomists are moving away from phenotypic classication the way things look to genotypic classificatios the way their genes are defined Continued on page 62 gray haired golf course superintendents were in school broadleaf fescues were firmly planted in the genus Festuca We dutifully memorized that it was in the Gramineae family and we quickly became aware of its important place in the turf world That may change Or it may already have changed A move to change the classification is being pushed by the most recent generation of taxonomists The breeders want to stick to Festuca says Leah Brilman director of research and technical services for Oregon Seed Farms Brilman received broad support for her motion to keep fescue as Festuca from a number of other breeders at the recent Crop Science Society of America meetings in Pittsburgh However the plant breeders dont hold all the cards in this game Some recent taxonomists want to put it in Festuca Brilman says and others want it in Festuca Schendonorus was once the name used to refer to the segment of the genus of Festuca to which the broadleaved fescues belonged If we accept these names do we have to call it tall ryegrass Or tall Schendonorus Brilman asks Good question And the answers according to proponents of the name change will come from down deep way down deep in the genetics of the plant and not the way they look Taxonomists are moving away from phenotypic classification the way things look to genotypic classification the way their genes are defined These taxonomists say there are genetic markers that indicate that not all fescues conform to the Festuca nomenclature They dont belong in Festuca says Mary Barkworth director of the Intermountain Herbarium at Utah State University People say Why fuss Its been that way since the 1970s However since then there has been a great deal of protoplast DNA work done That DNA work puts them with Lolium Barkworth says On a more visual basis Barkworth points to the morphology of the spike and their crossing relationships as proof that they do not belong in Festuca Agronomists and seed breeders including the dean of turfgrass James Beard Ph D beg to disagree with the change Besides they note linking to past names is important for germplasm repositories Breeders complain they have had four names thrown at them in recent years without any input from the breeding community And they like Festuca And while the battle has been joined theres little hope for a truce and less expectation for an immediate resolution to the tiff Some turfgrass experts shrug and say whatever to taxonomy fights However the