ABSTRACT
The genus Zoysia (Poaceae, Poales, Liliopsida, Magnoliophyta) was named after the Austrian botanist Karl von Zois. The eight species of the genus, commonly known as zoysia or zoysiagrass, are found in coastal areas or grasslands of southeastern and eastern Asia (north to China and Japan), Australia, and New Zealand. The eight species are Z. japonica, Z. macrantha, Z. macrostachya, Z. matrella, Z. minima, Z. paucifl ora, Z. sinica, and Z. tenuifolia. Z. macrantha is found only in Australia (Loch et al. 2005), Z. minima and Z. paucifl ora are found only in New Zealand (Stewart 2005), and the other fi ve species usually appear in eastern Asia, including China and Japan (Fu 1995; Dong and Gong 2001).
