A field plot experiment was conducted in the Instituto de Zootecnia, Nova Odessa-SP, in a split plot design with 12 replicates, to compare, in the grasses marandu (Brachiaria brizantha Stapf. cv. Marandu), setaria (Setaria sphacelata cv. Kazungula) and tanzania (Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania-1): dry matter yield, dry matter percentage, sward height, leaf blade percentage, apical meristem height, in cuts at 35 days of growth, in the spring (21/11 to 25/12/97), summer (29/12/97 to 02/02/98), fall (13/04 to 18/05/98) and winter (28/05 to 01/07/98) seasons. The plots were the grasses and the split-plots the year seasons. Tanzania always showed high leaf blade percentage and low apical meristem height and presented the highest dry matter yield during fall season, and in the spring and winter, its dry matter yield did not differ from the other grasses, that were alike in the four seasons. The Setaria grass showed the smallest dry matter percentage in the four seasons, and the smallest leaf blade percentage, during spring and summer, which can limit its intake by the animals.
apical meristem; dry matter content; dry matter yield; leaf blade; sward height
