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Relationships Among Components of Seed Yield in Blue Grama¹

High caryopsis weight in forage plants generally increases seedling emergence, vigor, and establishment. Breeding for improved caryopsis weight in blue grama [Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Steud.] can be successful only if variations in average caryopsis weight of a plant are not simply a result of variations in the components of caryopsis yield. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of spikes/culm, spikelets/spike, and fertility on caryopsis weight and the effects of spikes/culm, spikelets/spike, fertility, and caryopsis weight on yield/culm. In a 1,080–plant, spaced field nursery, average caryopsis weight varied among plants from 25 to 70 mg/100. Multiple regression and path analysis indicated that spikes/culm, spikelets/spike, and fertility accounted for only 5% of the variation in caryopsis weight. These components of yield, with caryopsis weight, accounted for 86% of the variation in caryopsis yield/culm. In a polycross nursery of 60 plants selected from the previous nursery primarily for high caryopsis weight, blue grama clones differed significantly in all of the components of caryopsis yield/culm. Blocks in the polycross nursery differed significantly in all components of yield/culm except average caryopsis weight of a plant. These results suggest that it would be possible to select blue grama plants for both high caryopsis weight and high seed yields.

Key Words: Seed yield • Seed size • Seed weight • Spikes • Spikelets • Fertility • Path analysis • Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K.) Lag. ex Steud

² Plant physiologist, USDA, ARS, Crops Research Laboratory, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523; plant geneticist, Dep. of Agronomy, Colorado State Univ.; research specialist, New Mexico State Univ., Middle Rio Orande Branch St., Los Lunas, NM; and manager, USDA–Soil Conservation Service Plant Materials Center, Los Lunas, NM.

Received for publication November 17, 1980.

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