Collection and preliminary evaluation of native turfgrass accessions in Italy

Despite a raising interest on turfs in Italy, all the available varieties of this kind in the Country are of foreign origin, and are often poorly adapted to the prevailing climatic conditions. This prompted to begin a collection activity of indigenous turfgrass species, with the ultimate goal of identifying promising materials for future breeding based on local genetic resources. The collection was carried out in three areas of Italy, viz. the northern Po Plain, the coastal region of Liguria, and the island of Sardinia that are characterised, respectively, by subcontinental, warm temperate, and typical Mediterranean climate. Altogether, 141 sites were visited, yielding 226 accessions belonging to eight species of potential interest for turfs: Poa pratensis, Poa trivialis, Festuca rubra, Festuca arundinacea, Lolium perenne, Agrostis stolonifera, Agrostis tenuis, and Cynodon dactylon, this last being a warm-season grass. Poa pratensis and Cynodon dactylon were mostly collected in northern Italy and Sardinia, respectively, whereas Festuca arundinacea and Lolium perenne were rather ubiquitous. The collection sites ranged from 0 to 1040 m asl, but sites over 750 m were only visited in the inner part of Sardinia. All the accessions, collected as whole plants, were transplanted at Lodi, northern Italy, where they are being evaluated. Their preliminary evaluation for traits of importance for turf use, such as sward colour and overall quality, highlighted the great variation and the occurrence of interesting accessions in all species. Other characters were recorded, bearing specific importance in individual species, and in all cases promising accessions were identified. The germplasm of Festuca rubra, Festuca arundinacea, and Lolium perenne proved highly infected by endophytic (symbiotic) fungi of the genus Neotyphodium.