Ozark was jointly released in 2001 by the Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Stations, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. Ozark is a clonally propagated forage type bermudagrass.
Like Midland, Midland 99, and Tifton 44, Ozark is relatively upright and tall growing in comparison to more decumbent cultivars such as Greenfield. The stem diameter, shoot length, leaf length, and leaf width of Ozark are similar to Midland and Tifton 44 and slightly smaller in size than Midland 99. Ozark typically produces inflorescences later and less profusely than Midland or Tifton 44, but earlier and more profusely than Midland 99. It's excellent stand persistence in humid environments suggest, as do field observations, that it has good resistance to diseases that may cause stand thinning. Field observations over many years indicate that it is highly resistant to leaf spotting disease caused by Bipolaris cynodontis (Marig.) Shoem. Although a tetrapoloid with 2n=4x=36 chromosomes, Ozark produces few seeds and must be propagated vegetatively.
Sprig increase will be on a limited generation basis with one generation each of breeder, foundation and certified classes. Certified sprigs may be grown only from foundation sprigs.
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