ABSTRACT
Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is an economically important, warmseason, erect-growing, perennial and widely adapted species in Panicum s.s., which is a taxonomically recognized genus of about 100 specifi c taxa on the basis of data collected in recent molecular phylogenetic investigations and morphological characteristics (Aliscioni et al. 2003). The North American species is an important component of tallgrass prairies and a common resident in many other habitats on the continent. It is a natural forage species of many herbivorous animals evolved and raised in North America. Since the 1920s, switchgrass has been used to establish plantings for soil conservation, grazing and forage production in mono stands or mixtures with other compatible species (Vogel 2004). For the past two decades, switchgrass has received increasingly more attention in research due to its potential as a bioenergy feedstock crop.
