Study On Resistance Of Five Miscanthus Ornamental Grasses And The Application In Landscape

Miscanthus is an ornamental grass with varieties of species, unique ornamental characteristicsincluding plant shapes, colors, inflorescences etc., rapid propagation and easily maintenance andmanagement, which can be widely used in different types of urban landscape. The systematic researchof Miscanthus resistance and its landscape application has the important theoretical significance andpractical value to setting up a landscape with efficient water conservation system, enriching urbangardens landscape, reflecting the species and landscape diversity and improving the level of gardengreening. The main results were summarized as follows：1. Based on the literatures and the Flora of China, there are14species of genus Miscanthus inChina, which mainly distributed in the eastern and southern coasts, Sichuan, Yunnan and Taiwan. Thedistribution map of Miscanthus was drawn. Five Miscanthus grasses, including M. floridulus, M.sinensis, M. sinensis ‘Variegatus’, M. sinensis ‘Morning Light’ and M. sinensis ‘Gracilimus’, were usedin investigation and summary of ornamental characteristics, phenophase observation and morphologicalindexes.2. The physiological and biochemical indexes of five Miscanthus ornamental grasses weredetermined and analyzed during25days after water stress, including chlorophyll content, relativeconductivity, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, proline content and soluble protein content, superoxidedismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT). The results showed that the trends inphysiological and biochemical indexes of five miscanthus species were different. The contents ofchlorophyll, MDA and proline, relative conductivity increased significantly with increasing water stressin Miscanthus. However, the soluble protein content, SOD, POD, CAT activities increased and reachedthe highest at15days after water stress, then decreased with increasing water stress in Miscanthus. Thecomprehensive evaluation using Membership functions showed that the order of drought-resistancefrom strong to weak was M. sinensis ‘Variegatus’, M. sinensis, M. sinensis ‘Morning Light’, M.floridulus, M. sinensis ‘Gracilimus’.3. Different shading treatments were imposed on the five Miscanthus ornamental grasses. Themorphological and photosynthetic indexes including plant height, leaf length, leaf width, totalchlorophyll content, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a/b, maximum net photosynthetic rate(Pmax), light saturation point (LSP), light compensation point (LCP) and apparent quantum yield (AQY)were measured. The shade tolerances of these tested grasses were ranked. The results showed thatshading treatments had effected on their morphological and physiological indexes to different extends.By using membership function to evaluate the shade tolerant ability, the order of the shade tolerancefrom strong to weak was: M. sinensis ‘Morning Light’, M. sinensis, M. floridulus, M. sinensis‘Variegatus’ and M. sinensis ‘Gracilimus’. The shade tolerant ability of the five Miscanthus ornamentalgrasses were evaluated with subordinate function, their shade tolerance order was M. sinensis ‘MorningLight’>M. sinensis>M. floridulus>M. sinensis ‘Variegatus’> M. sinensis ‘Gracilimus’. 4. By on-the-spot investigation of the Hangzhou landscape area, seven species of Miscanthus wereused, including M. sinensis, M. sacchariflorus, M. floridulus, M. sinensis ‘Gracilimus’, M. sinensis‘Zebrinus’, M. sinensis ‘Morning Light’ and M. sinensis ‘Variegatus’. Miscanthus ornamental grass isrelatively homogeneous in the landscape application and most of them are M. sacchariflorus and M.floridulus. Combined with the principle of landscape ecology, configurations of Miscanthus and theother different ornamental plants were discussed, and also its application in flower border, flower bed,waterfront, slope, golf course, rock garden, roof garden, grasses garden. It will provide theoreticalreference for wide application of Miscanthus ornamental grass.