With the widespread impact of the diseases Lethal Virus Necrosis (LVN) and Sugarcane Mosaic Virus (SCMV), it is essential to differentiate which Saint Augustinegrass cultivar you are resodding with. The most common cultivar used in the industry is ‘Floratam,’ which has many benefits, but unfortunately, it is highly susceptible to LVN. The alternatives are ‘Palmetto,’ ‘Seville,’ ‘Citrablue,’ and others. The question is, how can we differentiate between the cultivars with the naked eye? It’s not an easy task for inexpert eyes. This guide will help you to tell which cultivar is which. Before that, it is essential to learn some basic terminology.

Stolon – horizontal stems that grow above the soil surface, producing roots at nodes and sending out new shoots.

The stolon’s appearance can vary among the cultivars in terms of thickness, amount of branching, internode length, and color. They could be more purple with more sunlight and greener with less sunlight.

Node – where roots and new shoots emerge.

Internode – the distance between nodes; no roots or shoots emerge here.

Inflorescence – There are flowers without petals! It consists of small spikelets that have stigmas and anthers.

Stigma – It is the female structure of the flower; it looks like small feathers and the color could range from white to purple

Anthers – It is the male structure and has different sizes. The color could be golden, yellow, or yellow purple.

Floratam

Palmetto

Citrablue

Seville

Comparison Key

Recording of the webinar:

Unfortunately, there are some limitations to the visual observations, like off-types and multiple types of grass planted at the same site. You may need to use molecule markers to reliably differentiate between cultivars, but this is very expensive.

Resources:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/EP646

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