Abstract
A competition diallel experiment was made in five strains of Festuca arundinacea Schreb. (two cultivars and three natural strains) in order to examine the variation of competitive ability and plant characters affecting it. Both cultivars showed higher competitive ability than three natural strains. The competitive ability was closely associated with the shoot DW but not with the root DW under the spaced planting condition. And it also positively correlated with the number of roots. The mixtures were generally more productive than the monocultures probably because of more efficient utilization of light energy by a combination of different plant types.
