An experiment wascarried out with the objective to evaluate growth pattern of tropical foragegrass under free growth by using morphogenetic and structural characteristicswith the expectation of using this study for forage grass evaluation protocol.The experimental area was established with two cultivars of Panicum maximumJacq. (Mombaca and Aruana), a hybrid cultivar of P. maximum Jacq. andP. Infestum BRA-7102 (Massai), two cultivars of Brachiaria brizantha(A. Rich.) Stapf (Marandu and Xaraes) and Molasses grass (Melinis minutifloraBeauv.) and jaragua grass (Hyparrhenia rufa (Nees) Stapf.). The grasseswere planted in 1.0-m2 experimental units with 24 plants arrangedin a completely randomized block design with three replications. Growth patternof the grasses was evaluated through mass development, tiller mortality, developmentstage and leaf longevity. Development patterns differed significantly amonggroups of grasses, indicating that the same available resources can be usedin different manners by grasses from the same genus and/or species.
