Pollination Cycles and Pollen Dispersal in Relation to Grass Improvement

Authors

Melvin D. Jones
L. C. Newell

Date of this Version

10-1946

Document Type

Article

Citation

Jones, Melvin D. and Newell, L.C. (1946) Pollination cycles and pollen dispersal in relation to grass improvement (Research Bulletin: Bulletin of the Agricultural Experiment Station of Nebraska No. 148)

Comments

ISSN 0097-1479

Abstract

The plant breeder is initially concerned with gaining a knowledge of the breeding behavior of his plant materials in order that improvement may be undertaken effectively. It is important to know the different characteristic pollination habits of these plants. To develop and apply techniques applicable to the improvement of a given grass crop, it is desirable to know the time of day and the number of days that the grass sheds pollen. The effects of temperature, humidity, light, and wind on pollination must be considered. Once superiority of germplasm is obtained, the most important consideration is the maintenance of this genetic identity with the advance in generation of these selected plant materials. The problem of maintaining genetic identity differs with self-fertilized and cross-pollinated plants. Procedures and requirements set up for use in the production and maintenance of superior varieties or strains of cross-pollinated grasses must be based on facts regarding the wind dissemination of their pollen. In spite of the interest in this subject, there has been reported in the literature little experimental evidence upon which proper distances for field isolation may be based. The primary objectives of these investigations were to determine the time of day and the number of days that certain grasses shed pollen, and to determine the relative amounts of pollen of selected grasses dispersed in the air at various distances from their sources.