Abstract

Studies in the northeastern United States have shown that the improved cultivars of narrow-leaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.) do not have sufficient winter hardiness to persist under wintertime conditions typical of that region. However, an experimental line, PG700, developed from productive plants collected from the southern, mid-Atlantic, and midwestern United States had significantly greater survival after freezing than the commercially available cultivars. A field study was initiated in 2006 to select for additional freezing tolerance in PG700. Superior materials collected after two-years of selection pressure were evaluated in growth chambers for survival after exposure to −11 and −14°C or after exposure to drought that was severe enough to kill all visible leaves. The cultivar Tonic was included as a freezing-susceptible control. Survival of spaced plants of PG700 in the field was high, with mortality rates of 9% following the first winter after transplanting, 26% of the remaining plants after the following summer, and 11% after the second winter. Even with the low selection pressure, progeny of plants selected after the first winter had more than twice the survival rate of the original population when exposed to −14°C. No Tonic plants survived at −14°C. PG700 did not have greater drought resistance than Tonic, nor was its drought resistance improved by the selection process. Increased freezing tolerance will increase the suitability of plantain as a component of perennial pasture mixtures in temperate regions of the United States.

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