Turfgrass Culture at the University of Florida - Fort Lauderdale

Hour Test #1 (5 Oct 1999)

 ORH 3222c (4 credits)
University of Florida - Fort Lauderdale
comments to: turf@ufl.edu
Syllabus Nutshell Big Book Calendar Exams More classes Turfgrass Science

Student Name:

 

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Please read these carefully. Circle the one response (a, b, c, d, or e) that most correctly answers the question or completes the statement. Each of the remaining four responses has a flaw with respect to the original statement, even though containing some truth. Multiple choice questions are worth 2.5 points each.

 

  1. How do grasses differ from other plants?
    1. Grasses do not have flowers but have spikelets instead of flowers.
    2. Grasses are a family of monocots with reduced flowers and round stems.
    3. The first molecule of carbon dioxide fixation in grasses has four carbon atoms.
    4. Grasses have wind-borne pollen unlike other all plant families.
    5. Grasses use more water than trees and grow in wetter areas than trees.
  2. Here is an example of a Latin binomial, of the type first used by Linnaeus:
    1. tall fescue
    2. Poa pratensis
      3.
    3. Argentine bahiagrass
    4. kilogram
    5. drought resistance
  3. According to Christians in Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management, which area of turfgrass has generally not employed large numbers of turfgrass management graduates?
    1. sod production
    2. sales
    3. golf courses
    4. research
    5. athletic fields
  4. Which grass is a cool-season bunch-type grass that is notable for its wear resistance?
    1. carpetgrass
    2. Argentine bahiagrass
    3. perennial ryegrass
    4. tall fescue
    5. Kentucky bluegrass
  5. Which component of turfgrass water relationships is hardest to predict and measure?
    1. the evapotranspiration rate
    2. precipitation rate from an irrigation system
    3. soil available moisture
    4. relative humidity
    5. percolation rate
  6. Turf should be mown:
    1. a certain number of days after the last mowing
    2. so as to remove no more than 1/3 of the foliage
    3. whenever convenient
    4. as short as possible
    5. early in the morning
  7. The typical grass flower contains:
    1. two stigmas and three anthers
    2. two stigmas and two anthers
    3. three anthers and three stigmas
    4. three stigmas and two anthers
    5. anthers or stigmas but not both
  8. Compared with cool-season grasses, warm-season grasses:
    1. use more water
    2. are more sensitive to carbon dioxide limitations
    3. are more often propagated by seed
    4. more often have a bunch-type growth habit
    5. grow better at high light levels
  9. A warm-season turfgrass which is excellent for use along Florida highways:
    1. Festuca arundinacea
    2. Poa annua
    3. Paspalum notatum
    4. Hemarthria altissima
    5. Eleusine indica
      6.
  10. This part of the grass plant is often membranous in cool-season grasses:
    1. spikelet
    2. anther
    3. ligule
    4. sheath
    5. meristem
  11. Cool-season turfgrass that spreads only by rhizomes
    1. Poa pratensis
    2. Poa annua
    3. Poa tenuifolia
    4. Agrostis palustris
    5. Agrostis alba
      6.
  12. The following grasses are members of the warm-arid subfamily Eragrostoideae:
    1. Paspalum notatum, and Stenotaphrum secundatum
    2. Cynodon dactylon and Zoysia japonica
    3. Poa pratensis and Agrostis palustris
    4. Lolium perenne and Poa annua
    5. Festuca arundinacea and Festuca rubra
  13. The abundance of cultivars among cool-season turfgrasses, and the relatively small number of cultivars among warm-season turfgrasses is probably explained by:
    1. cool-season grasses are frequently replanted every year
    2. cool-season grasses are more frequently propagated vegetatively
    3. cool-season grasses maintain their genetic identity through seed production
    4. cool-season grasses are older than warm-season grasses
    5. cool-season grasses use less water than warm-season grasses
  14. You are asked, "How many bags of Milorganite 6-2-0 must be applied to a lawn 20 feet x 30 feet at the rate of 0.75 pounds N per thousand square feet." What's missing from this problem?
    1. the analysis
    2. the weight of the bag
    3. the size of the lawn
    4. the target rate of nitrogen
    5. the number of acres
  15. A 50-pound bag of 16-4-8 fertilizer is applied to a 3,000 square foot lawn. That's all that is given. What could you be required to provide, that is, what isn't given?
    1. a basis
    2. a rate
    3. an amount
    4. a volume
    5. a velocity
  16. How many acres can be fertilized at 1 pound N per thousand square feet from 20 bags of fertilizer which is 21.5% N, assuming the bags are 50 pounds.
    1. 0.5
    2. 1.0
    3. 2.0
    4. 5.0
    5. 10.0
  17. Turfgrass texture, one of the components of turfgrass quality, is a measure of:
    1. the growth habit
    2. the smoothness
    3. the number of shoots per unit area
    4. the roughness
    5. the leaf width
  18. Define seed with respect to grasses:
    1. a mature ovary
    2. a caryopsis
    3. a mature spikelet
    4. a fruit
    5. a unit of dispersal
  19. The most rapid growing, high recuperation type of warm-season turfgrass is:
    1. zoysiagrass
    2. bahiagrass
    3. St. Augustinegrass
    4. bermudagrass
    5. bentgrass
  20. According to Phil Busey, the main reason to water warm-season turfgrasses in the early morning is:
    1. that's when irrigation patterns are least affected by wind
    2. to prevent fungal disease which is enhanced under wet conditions
    3. to reduce evaporative loss in the heat of the day
    4. to reduce drift of fine water droplets away from the turf area
    5. to escape detection
  21. Turfgrasses are established from different sized pieces. In general, the more rapid expansion (based on amount of plant material) is obtained from:
    1. sprigging
    2. sodding
    3. stolonizing
    4. plugging
    5. seeding
  22. Reasons to know the accurate conversion of units of measure are:
    1. it's the law
    2. materials are expensive
    3. some materials such as herbicides are selective in a narrow range
    4. some day you might work for NASA
    5. all of the above
  23. Three pounds per acre is equal to:
    1. 1 gram per cubic yard
    2. 1 ton
    3. 1 ounce per thousand square feet
    4. 3 miles per hour
    5. an acre foot
  24. The identity principle is used in units conversion:
    1. because something can always be multiplied by one
    2. as a step in reducing terms
    3. it provides accountability
    4. to get the right answer
    5. all of the above
  25. Good writing is good storytelling, which includes novelty, interest, and plausibility. Plausibility means:
    1. reusing phrases and longer passages from other authors
    2. telling the sources of your information
    3. using the scientific method
    4. speculating
    5. baffle them with statistics
  26. The class established several experiments involving replications of treatments. The purposes for replication in experiments are:
    1. to get a better estimate
    2. to estimate the variability within a treatment, compared with the variability among treatments
    3. to develop an estimate of confidence
    4. to provide a wider degree of representation than can be done with a single plot
    5. all of the above
  27. The main objective for removing dead vegetation from a future turf area is:
    1. to reduce diseases
    2. to remove barriers to water movement
    3. to make it easier to grade the area
    4. to remove weed seeds
    5. none of the above
  28. The main family of plants similar to grasses and frequently occurring as weeds in turf areas is:
    1. the buttercup family
    2. monocots
    3. Gymnosperms
    4. sedges
    5. groundcovers
  29. How many grass species are there in the world?
    1. 1,000
    2. 2,000
    3. 5,000
    4. 10,000
    5. 20,000
  30. Floratam St. Augustinegrass differs from other cultivars of the species because it has
    1. less chinch bug resistance
    2. less shade tolerance
    3. in finer textured than most other cultivars
    4. is more cold resistant
    5. highly wear tolerant
  31. Christians argues that stoloniferous grasses tolerate close mowing heights and upright grasses are generally limited to mowing heights of 1.5 inches and higher. Why is this false?
    1. Stenotaphrum secundatum is entirely stoloniferous and should generally be mown at 3 inches or higher.
    2. A plant such as Paspalum notatum can be both erect and stoloniferous.
    3. Stoloniferous grasses such as Seashore Paspalum tend to form a spongy mat, which poorly supports a mower.
    4. Christians gives only two examples, creeping bentgrass and bermudagrass, the latter producing abundant rhizomes as well as stolons
    5. All of the above.
  32. A practice which has been shown to reduce water use in turf is:
    1. fertilization
    2. scalping
    3. use of cool-season grasses
    4. removal of tree cover
    5. magnetic resonance
  33. A region of development (cell division and growth) which is located at the base, e.g., the base of the turfgrass internode, or the base of the leaf
    1. glume
    2. thatch
    3. chloroplast
    4. root hair
    5. intercalary meristem
  34. Which species is the most highly drought avoidant warm-season turfgrass; growth is rank and seedy; salt and shade tolerance are poor?
    1. Eremochloa ophiuroides
    2. Cynodon dactylon
    3. Axonopus affinis
    4. Stenotaphrum secundatum
    5. Paspalum notatum
      6.
  35. The combined loss of water form plants and soil is
    1. photosynthesis
    2. respiration
    3. evapotranspiration
    4. translocation
    5. denitrification
  36. Turfgrass culture developed initially in:
    1. America
    2. Africa
    3. Asia
    4. Azherbaijan
    5. Atlanta
  37. This type of turf has rhizomes and stolons:
    1. bermudagrass
    2. bahiagrass
    3. Kentucky bluegrass
    4. tall fescue
    5. Poa annua
      6.
  38. Bracts located at the base of the grass spikelet
    1. intercalary meristems
    2. auricles
    3. glumes
    4. lemmas
    5. paleas
  39. The fertlizer urea (45-0-0) is to be applied at the rate of 1 pound N per thousand square feet. How large a lawn can be treated with one bag (50 pounds)?
    1. 1000 square feet
    2. 5000 square feet
    3. 10000 square feet
    4. half an acre
    5. one acre
  40. Who invented the first mechanical mower in 1830:
    1. Tamagotchi Yogimura
    2. Sir Arnold Jacobsen
    3. Mr. Edwin Budding
    4. Dr. James Beard
    5. Frank Worthington

     

    The following questions are bonus points worth 5 points each.

  41. In Fundamentals of Turfgrass Management, Christians says, "Rough grading is the first step involved in soil preparation when major changes are necessary." Also, soil preparation is the first subject discussed in Establishment (Chapter 5). Which prior steps were ignored in this sequence and why must they precede soil preparation? (Hint: PEGISID

  42. Draw a grass spikelet and label the parts glumes, lemmas, florets, paleas, anthers, stigmas, and ovary

  43. What are the benefits of turfgrass? Make an outline listing several major categories and several examples of each category.

  44. What is the concept of compounding applied to turfgrass propagation? Draw a graph showing the normal progression of soil coverage over time, and identify the portion of the curve where compound or geometric growth rate occur. List at least four conditions required for maximum increase rates.

comments to: turf@ufl.edu