Effect of drought stress on the percentage of the withered leaves and physiological indexes of four ornamental grasses

The experiment was conducted to determine the response of the morphological and physiological parameters of four ornamental grass species Janpanese blood grass (Imperata cylindrical）, Variegated miscanthus (Miscanthus sinensis), Finesterm Needlegrass (Stipa tenuissima）, Evergold Sedge (Carex oshimensis）to drought stress by measuring the percentage of withered leaves, leaf relative water content, leaf relative electrolytic leakage, MDA content, SOD activity, contents of proline and chlorophyll. The results of this study showed that leaf relative electrolytic leakage, contents of MDA and proline of the four species increased continuously with the prolonging of drought stress, and they were an obviously positive correlation with the percentage of withered leaves. The content of leaf relative water and chlorophyll of the four species decreased continuously and showed an obviously negative correlation with the percentage of withered leaves. Combining the morphological and physiological parameters, The drought tolerance of four species was in order: Evergold SedgeFinesterm NeedlegrassVariegated miscanthusJanpanese blood grass.