Notice of Release of Sunrise Germplasm Eastern Gamagrass: Tested Class of Natural Germplasm

Abstract

Eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides (L.) L. [Poaceae]) is a native bunchgrass that once occurred throughout most of the US and northern Mexico. Considered a high-quality forage crop for livestock by early settlers, its importance declined due to overgrazing and land conversion to crop fields. There has been a renewed interest in the species as a forage and for conservation and restoration purposes. The USDA NRCS Plant Materials Program has focused on evaluation of eastern gamagrass ecotypes, and several cultivars or germplasm have been released from various Plant Material Centers (PMC) in cooperation with other state and federal programs based primarily on material collected from Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas. The only Florida eastern gamagrass ecotypes, St Lucie Germplasm and Martin Germplasm, were collected from St Lucie and Martin Counties in Florida, respectively, and were released in 2000 as vegetatively propagated ornamental types for the Florida nursery industry. Interest in a Florida ecotype eastern gamagrass for wildlife habitat and other conservation uses was addressed with the further evaluation of more than 70 Florida gamagrass accessions. As a result, Sunrise Germplasm (tested as accession 9059266) was identified for joint release by the USDA NRCS Brooksville PMC and University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension.