In Panicoid grasses, elevation of the crown node above the soil surfac
e caused by excessive subcoleoptile internode elongation is detrimenta
l to seedling establishment. We describe a technique to screen grass s
eedlings for excessive crown node elevation. Seed of 11 perennial gras
s cultivars were germinated and grown in a plywood box 1.2 X 1.2 X 1.2
m at an irradiance of 1.5 mumol m-2 sec-1 at 30-degrees-C. A subset o
f 8 grasses were grown similarly but at an irradiance of 0.75 mumol m-
2 sec-1. Elevation of crown nodes above the growth media and shoot len
gth (from crown node to leaf tip) were measured 7 days after planting.
The crown nodes of 4 Eragrostis species were not elevated above the s
oil surface, while other species had mean crown node elevations of 1 c
m or more. Relative ranking of crown node elevation was similar for a
species within each light level, but response to change in light inten
sity was not consistent across species. Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curt
ipendula (Michx.) Torr.), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis (H.B.K. Lag.
ex Steud.)), and kleingrass (Panicum coloratum L.) exhibited significa
nt crown node elevation in this system. Estimates of genetic variation
based on comparison of apomictic and sexual grasses within this group
suggest that substantial genetic variation exists for excessive subco
leoptile internode elongation and that progress by selection for lower
crown node placement should be possible in most of the grasses studie
d. This system allows characterization of grasses for extent of crown
node elevation and is being used in a recurrent selection protocol to
select for lower crown node placement.