FLoraTeXM Bermudagrass Bermudagrasses, Cynodon sp., are perennial warm-season grasses native to eastern Africa (3). They are best adapted to well drained, fertile soils of relatively fine texture. They have a prostrate growth habit, fine leaf texture, high shoot density, and deep root system. Bermudagrasses are tolerant of close mowing, drought, heat, and wear stresses. For these reasons, bermudagrasses are commonly used for golf course, recre- ational, and sports turfs throughout warm climatic regions of southern United States, as well as for ornamental lawns, parks, and roadsides (3). Characteristics 'FLoraTeXTM' bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., is a deep rooted, warm-season turfgrass with excellent dehy- dration avoidance, low nitrogen requirement, excellent fall low temperature color retention, and early spring greenup. It is resistant to bermudagrass stunt mite, Eriophyes cynodoniensis Sayed. It is tolerant to short-winged mole cricket, Scapteriscus abbreviatus Scudder, and to lance, Hoplolaimus galeatus Cobb, and to spiral, Helicotylenchus pseudorobustus Steiner, nema- todes. It is least affected by dollar spot, Sclerotinia homoeocarpa FT. Bennett, under low nitrogen stress. It is widely adapted and produces an acceptable turf throughout southern United States. It can be identified by means of starch gel electrophoresis for its aconitase "fingerprint". FLoraTeXTM bermudagrass is an environmentally acceptable grass for low maintenance turfs on golf course fairways and roughs, as well as on athletic fields, other recreational sports turfs, roadsides, and home lawns. Origin FLoraTeXTM bermudagrass is thought to have been intro- duced into United States under the name 'Franklin' on 18 Feb. 1954 by African Explosives and Chemical Industries, Ltd., Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa (12). It was assigned a plant introduction (PI) number, 213385, by United States De- partment of Agriculture New Crops Research Branch, Crops Research Division. Franklin was originally collected from a putting green that was severely damaged by mealybugs, Antonina indica Green, at Mount Edgecomb Golf Course, Natal, South Africa. From 1955 to 1962, it was tested under its PI number, 213385, in Alabama, Arizona, California, and Georgia (12). In 1961, Baltensperger (2) first reported and later Butler (8) confirmed that PI 213385 was resistant to bermudagrass stunt mite, although Baltensperger also noted his original plant ma- terial received from the Southern Regional Plant Introduction Station in Experiment, Ga. was vegetatively contaminated. He continued to test three vegetative off-types from PI 213385 under different coded numbers. During the 1970s and 1980s, many studies on Florida Bermudagrass accession 119 (FB-119) were conducted at Uni- versity of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Fort Lauderdale and Gainesville, Fla., and at Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas. During 1986 to 1990, FB- 119 was evaluated in a southern regional cooperative test ad- ministered by National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP), USDA ARS, at Beltsville, MD. The NTEP study involved 28 bermudagrass entries and was conducted at 22 locations in 14 states throughout the south (14). Our original source of FB-119 bermudagrass in Florida is unknown, although it was identified as PI 213385 (Franklin) in our records. Unfortunately, original stock of PI 213385 has since been lost at the Southern Regional Plant Introduction Center so that comparisons to original germplasm are not pos- sible (G.R. Lovell, personal communication). FLoraTeXTM was chosen as a registered trademark name for the Florida experi- mental bermudagrass selection that was tested throughout the south as FB-119. Turf Performance Turf-type bermudagrass cultivars now in use today gener- ally fit into one of two groups. One group involves C. dactylon cultivars which tolerate low cultural input in terms of turfgrass maintenance and yet produce an acceptable level of turf qual- ity in terms of density and leaf texture. A second group con- sists of hybrid bermudagrass cultivars, C. dactylon x C. transvaalensis, which typically require higher cultural inputs to achieve high turfgrass quality. They also produce an inher- ently higher turf quality due to their higher shoot density and narrower leaf texture than the first group. With these two gen- eral groupings in mind, FLoraTeXTM bermudagrass as described herein fits within a low maintenance, C. dactylon, group. FLoraTeXTM bermudagrass produced acceptable seasonal turf quality when compared with 28 other experimental and commercial cultivars at 22 locations in 14 states throughout the south over a 5-year study (Table 1). This indicates wide- spread geographical adaptation. It was consistently superior in turf quality compared to 'Arizona Common', 'Guymon', 'NuMex Sahara', and 'Sonesta' cultivars and was equal in per- formance compared to 'Midiron' and 'Vamont' cultivars. Its turf quality was not as high, however, as 'Midfield,' 'Midlawn,' 'MS-Choice,' MS-Express,' 'MS-Pride,' 'Texturf 10,' 'Tifway,' and 'Tufcote' cultivars. In Florida, FLoraTeXTM was superior in turf quality to Arizona Common, Guymon, and NuMex Sa- hara and was equal to the remaining 24 cultivars (Table 1). In Texas, it was superior in turf quality to Arizona Common, Guymon, and NuMex Sahara and was equal to Midfield,