Turf Quality Characteristics of Crested Wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum(L.) Gaertner.) Specimens Native to Iran

Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum (L.) Gaertner.) is a potential source of low-maintenance turf species for use in areas with less water. The main goal of this study was to evaluate turf quality characteristics of 24 crested wheatgrass specimens collected from different locations of Iran as low-maintenance turfgrass. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. The results showed significant variation among specimens for turf quality and turf quality components and there were 15 specimens with an average turf quality rating of 6.0 or higher, indicating adequate quality performance. Mowing quality were higher than 6 for all specimens and ranging from 6.30 (210 M) to 7.28 (4049). Habitats of samples varied in performance for all traits and different geographical regionsmay offer germplasm with high turf quality performance. There were significant positive correlation between turf quality and mowing quality (r = 71**) and also turf quality and tillering (r = 57**). Based on the results of clusteranalysis, the specimens were assigned to 3 clusters and the single specimen from cluster 2 had the highest ratings for turf quality (7.95), mowing quality (7.28), color (7.27) and leaf texture (7.10). These results indicated that crestedwheatgrass specimens native to Iran could be an important resource for use as low-maintenance turfgrass.