ROOTED IN RESEARCH BERMUDAGRASS BREEDING HISTORY IN GEORGIA
By Mike Fidanza, PhD
Bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) is a perennial, warm- season grass species, which actively spreads vegetatively by both rhizomes and stolons, and can also spread by seed. Bermudagrass can be an unwelcomed weed in lawns and landscapes, pastures, and agricultural crops. Bermudagrass has been improved over the years, however, to become an important forage crop and an important and heavily relied- upon turfgrass species. Recently, the University of Georgia and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebrated the seventy-fifth anniversary of their bermudagrass turf breeding program located in Tifton, Georgia.
Te geographical origin of bermudagrass is the African continent, along with botanical relationships in India, Southeast Asia, and Australia. Bermudagrass arrived in America as a stow-away. In 1751, a ship sailed from the island of Bermuda to Savanah, GA. Hay contaminated with bermudagrass seeds and sprigs made its way beyond the port. By the early 1800s, bermudagrass had spread throughout the southern states, and eventually was seen from Maine to California.
Because that first ship—or many of those ships—traveled from Bermuda prior to docking in Savanah, “bermudagrass” become the accepted common name in America. Tere are many other names used throughout the world, including “couchgrass” in Australia.
By the early 1900s, wild bermudagrass ecotypes were growing all throughout Georgia, and the USDA wanted to convert this weed into a viable forage crop. Te USDA’s Coastal Plain Agricultural Experiment Station is located at the University of Georgia’s campus in Tifton, GA. So, in 1936, Dr. Glenn Burton (1910-2005) was hired as a plant breeder to turn bermudagrass into a valuable and legitimate agricultural crop. Over the course of his career, he certainly did just that, and he also made advances with pearl millet which contributed significantly to the green revolution and the fight against world hunger.
32 Dr. Glenn Burton examining bermudagrass.
Also by the early 1900s, in Georgia, naturally invasive bermudagrass was so prolific and therefore utilized as turfgrass-of-sorts for golf courses. Golf was becoming popular in the south, and those early putting green surfaces were either sand (often painted green) or seeded common- types of bermudagrass which possibly were overseeded with perennial ryegrass in cooler months. Tese putting greens were mowed and maintained in an effort to provide the best possible playing surfaces for that time.
Eventually, golf courses in Georgia desired a bermudagrass better suited for putting greens. Te U.S. Golf Association (USGA) contributed $500 toward this goal, and in 1946, Dr. Burton began the turf-type bermudagrass breeding program in Tifton.
Burton collected bermudagrasses throughout the south, and asked golf courses to send him bermudagrass plugs “from the best part of their best green.” First, he grew and maintained his bermudagrass collection in a greenhouse, and then transferred the plants to field plots to evaluate their performance as a mowed turf, their winter survival, and their spring green-up after being overseeded with perennial ryegrass in the fall.
TPI Turf News March/April 2023
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