Digitaria collection from southern Africa

Abstract

Seed or vegetative propagating material of 311 accessions of Digitaria spp. was collected in 1971 from wild and cultivated plants in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland with the object of broadening the genetic diversity of the Stocks of germ plasm held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Particular emphasis was placed on the search for germ plasm carrying resistance to pests and disease and tolerance of drought and cold. Some of the accessions may be of direct use in agriculture; other may be useful in plant improvement programmes. Duplicate herbarium specimens were deposited in the national Herbarium, Pretoria, South Africa, and in the National Herbarium, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.