The first century of Phalaris aquatica L. cultivation and genetic improvement: a review

Abstract

2006 marked the centenary of the commercial propagation of phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.) as a cultivated pasture plant, firstly in Australia, and soon after in New Zealand, South Africa, and North and South America. Small-scale evaluation of cv. Australian began in the Toowoomba Botanic Gardens, Queensland, in 1884. The first recorded large-scale production of seed was at the Glen Innes Research Farm of the NSW Department of Agriculture in February 1906. By 1908–15, several graziers in Australia and New Zealand sold seed widely within Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina, and South Africa. Factors affecting the utilisation of the original cultivar in Australia over the first half-century are reviewed. Thereafter, the need to extend the area of perennial pastures into regions unsuitable for cv. Australian led CSIRO and the US Department of Agriculture to collect germplasm widely in the Mediterranean region. Selection between and within Moroccan populations produced cvv. Sirocco and El Golea in Australia, and cv. Perla koleagrass in the USA. In Argentina, selection within cv. Australian produced the very successful, seed-retaining cv. Pergamino El Gaucho INTA, which was re-selected in Australia to produce cv. Seedmaster. The discovery of a single seed-retaining plant within a certified line of cv. Australian gave cv. Uneta, which had excellent seed retention because the rachillae of most seeds remained intact at maturity. In Australia, selection in populations derived from crosses between cv. Australian and Mediterranean ecotypes gave a succession of winter-active cultivars: Sirosa, Sirolan, Holdfast, Landmaster, Atlas PG, Advanced AT, and Holdfast GT. The latter 5 have Uneta-type seed retention, reduced tryptamine and tyramine alkaloids, and adaptation to different soil and climatic niches. Populations for the hotter, drier inland slopes of NSW are being field-tested. Also, a promising but unstable semi-dwarf line has been found: dwarfism appears to be caused by a transposable element. Breeding and selection programs in Argentina, several states of the USA, New Zealand, Israel, Tunisia, and Greece also produced cultivars with specific adaptations. Active breeding programs are continuing at Ardmore, OK, USA, and Pergamino, Argentina. A major remaining obstacle to the further improvement and utilisation of phalaris is the unknown chemical nature of the toxin(s) causing ‘sudden death’, which temporarily interfere with nitrogen metabolism in the brains of herbivores, especially ruminants.

Perennial pastures for recharge control in temperate drought-prone environments. Part 1: productivity, persistence and herbage quality of key species

“…This argument can be extended to include the other temperate perennial grass species, phalaris and perennial veldt grass, even though this study did not include contrasting cultivars of these species. The phalaris cultivar included in the current study, Landmaster, was chosen for its adaptability to acid soil environments and could be considered to be moderately summer-active (Oram et al 2009). This cultivar, which is perhaps not the most persistent phalaris cultivar under drought, still proved to have equal or greater persistence than any other grass species evaluated.…”

Field Evaluation of Cocksfoot, Tall Fescue and Phalaris for Dry Marginal Environments of South‐Eastern Australia. 2. Persistence

“…Oram et al. () reported that phalaris had excellent persistence in areas with >600 mm average rainfall. Oram and Hoen () found that North African germplasm with higher levels of summer dormancy, but which were also earlier flowering and more winter‐active survived better in cropping areas with 450–500 mm rainfall.…”

Use of Perennial Grass in Grazing Systems of Southern Australia to Adapt to a Changing Climate

“…Therefore, attempts have been made to introduce and incorporate genes from plants of low rainfall origin, such as the Mediterranean and North Africa. Australia was one of the first countries to deliberately exploit Mediterranean ecotypes of perennial grasses, due to climatic similarities, the value of pasture plants from the regions and the discovery and domestication of the Mediterranean grass phalaris (Culvenor, 2009;Oram et al, 2009). The adaptation of the perennial temperate grasses into lower rainfall environments has been substantially expanded in Australia by the replacement of early northern European introductions with more drought-hardy and summer-dormant germplasm from Mediterranean regions (Culvenor, 2009).…”