The U.S. Department of Agriculture has issued certificates of protection to developers of 12 new varieties of seed-reproduced and tuber-propagated plants. They include bermudagrass, bentgrass, bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass.

The 12 certificates are being issued under the Plant Variety Protection Act. The certificates require that the varieties be new, distinct, uniform and stable. The owners will have the exclusive right to reproduce, sell, import and export their products in the United States for the duration of protection.

The 12 certificates are:

• the Panama variety of bermudagrass, developed by Pure Seed Testing Inc., Rolesville, N.C.;

• the Century*, Backspin* and Imperial* varieties of creeping bentgrass, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas;

• the Champagne variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Huntsville, Utah;

• the Chicago II variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by J.R. Simplot/Jacklin Seed, Post Falls, Idaho;

• the Langara variety of Kentucky bluegrass, developed by Pickseed West Inc., Albany Ore.;

• the Oxford variety of hard fescue, developed by Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, Huntsville, Utah;

• the Endure variety of tall fescue, developed by Pure Seed Testing Inc., Rolesville, N.C.;

• the Rebel Exeda variety of tall fescue, developed by Pennington Seeds Inc., Madison, Ga.;

• the SR 4500 variety of perennial ryegrass, developed by Seed Research of Oregon, Corvallis, Ore.; and

• the Axcella variety of annual ryegrass, developed by Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, College Station, Texas.

* In the United States, seed of this variety (1) shall be sold by variety name only as a class of certified seed and (2) shall conform to the number of generations specified by the owner of the rights (84 STAT. 1542, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 2321 ET SEQ).

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, which provides time- limited marketing protection to developers of new and distinct seed- reproduced and tuber-propagated plants ranging from farm crops to flowers. For additional information contact the Plant Variety Protection Office at telephone (301) 504-5518, fax (301) 504-5291 or the Internet at www.ams.usda.gov/science/PVPO/pvpindex.htm.