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Canopy structure, productivity and their relationships were examined in 2-year-old swards of fourteen tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) strains during the vegetative and reproductive growth stages. During the vegetative growth stage morphological characters, particularly tiller size, were closely associated with productivity. Swards with large tillers showed an effective distribution of the incoming light energy within the canopy and hence low extinction coefficient (K) value and high productivity at complete light interception. On the other hand, although there was no apparent correlation between K and the productivity of the whole crop during the reproductive growlh stage, tbe productivities of the reproductive and vegetative tillers were positively and negatively related to Af respectively. Leaf area index ofthe reproductive tillers and their position in the canopy had marked effects on the distribution of the incoming light energy within the canopy and on the productivity of both types of tillers. The productivity of the vegetative and the reproductive tillers is discussed in terms of the effect of the competition for incoming light energy between both types of tillers. IntroduetionA grass sward is more productive during reproductive growth than vegetative growth in terms botb of growth rate and cf potential yield. This superiority mainly results from the following Correspondence; S,

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