Effect of Frost on Panicle Production in Dactylis glomerata

Abstract

The average seed yield of cocksfoot in Finland is small. The panicle formation has often been poor although the stand has otherwise been in good condition. In the present study the importance of early summer frost on the failure of panicle for­mation in cocksfoot was studied. The cold tolerance of cocks­foot has been observed to be poor compared to other perennial grasses (Gudleifsson et al., 1986). The sensitivity of cocksfoot to frost during the growing season was observed in the exper­iment of Nikolaevskaya (1973) where a frost treatment at flowering stage of cocksfoot completely destroyed the caryopses. Results of experiments conducted at the earlier stage of cocksfoot panicle development are probably not available. Frost treatments at the late panicle formation stage in Poa pratensis significantly decreased the number of panicles produced and the freezing injury was specific for the primordia flower (Heide, 1980)