AMERICAN RYEGRASS: A NEW TURFGRASS SPECIES
By Kenneth Hignight, Debra Hignight, Joseph Wipff, PhD, and Mike Richardson, PhD
A new turfgrass species, known as American Ryegrass, is now commercially available in the seed industry. American Ryegrass consists of stable, tetraploid hybrids developed from crosses between meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.) and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Tis turfgrass is suitable for golf courses, athletic fields, home lawns, and other areas where seeded turfgrasses are used
Compared to perennial ryegrass and tall fescue, American Ryegrass exhibits several notable advantages: • Greater cold tolerance than perennial ryegrass • Improved winter color compared to tall fescue • Superior drought tolerance compared to perennial ryegrass
• Faster establishment than both perennial ryegrass and tall fescue
• No seed dormancy • Higher seed yields than perennial ryegrass
Festulolium Background and
Breeding Efforts Crosses between meadow fescue and perennial ryegrass are classified as Festulolium. Although Festulolium hybrids have been used in forage production for over 100 years, turf-type varieties were not previously developed.
Turfgrass breeders at the NexGen Plant Science Center (Albany, OR) successfully developed and patented (US 10,721,879 B2) a novel turf-type Festulolium. Te breeding process began by creating a turf-type meadow fescue (US 7,368,639 B2). Using traditional breeding methods for open-pollinated species, the first patented diploid cultivar (AMF112) was released in 2004. Meadow fescue is typically diploid (2 sets of chromosomes; 2n=14). To facilitate hybridization, its chromosome number was doubled to produce a tetraploid form (2n=28).
Simultaneously, turf-type tetraploid perennial ryegrass was developed by doubling the chromosomes of elite diploid ryegrass cultivars. Tis resulted in the release of a new tetraploid perennial ryegrass cultivar, also patented in 2006 (US 7,368,638 B2).
Crosses between diploid meadow fescue and diploid perennial ryegrass produce a sterile hybrid. However, crossing tetraploid forms of each species restored fertility and led to the development of fertile, turf-quality Festulolium hybrids. Te first commercial turf-type Festulolium cultivar was released in 2015, and the patent was awarded in 2020 (US 10,721,879 B2) and again in 2023 (US 11,800,837 B2). To distinguish it from forage-type Festulolium, the new turf- type species was designated American Ryegrass.
Performance Trials and Key Characteristics Several studies at the NexGen Plant Science Center (Albany, OR) have evaluated American Ryegrass for performance, drought tolerance, seed yield, and overall turf quality. All turf quality, color, and drought data were collected using digital image analysis, a reliable and objective tool that provides consistent evaluations compared to traditional subjective visual ratings (Karcher et al., 2017).
Table 1. Turf performance traits of American ryegrass in comparison to tall fescue, diploid ryegrass, and tetraploid ryegrass. In addition, mixtures of American Ryegrass with those species were evaluated.
SPECIES CULTIVAR
American Ryegrass Tall Fescue
Tall Fescue / American Ryegrass Diploid Ryegrass
Diploid Ryegrass / American Ryegrass Tetraploid Ryegrass
Tetraploid Ryegrass / American Ryegrass
Minuteman Rebel V
Rebel V + Minuteman (25%) Soprano
Soprano + Minuteman (25%) Trek
Trek + Minuteman (25%) LSD (0.05)
76
Winter Genetic Color 2020
8.3 8.0 8.8 8.2 8.3 8.5 8.2 0.3
Winter Turf
Quality 2020
6.4 6.2 6.5 6.6 6.8 4.9 5.5 0.7
Genetic Color
5.2 4.7 5.6 4.6 4.3 6.2 5.8 0.6
Summer Turf
Quality
5.0 5.0 5.6 5.1 6.0 5.1 5.4 0.8
TPI Turf News July/August 2025
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