To obtain high-yielding， high-quality， and anthocyanin-rich new germplasm of forage grass， in this study we utilized a diploid Pennisetum glaucum ‘Ningza No.4’ as the maternal parent and a tetraploid P. purpureum ‘purple’ as the paternal parent to conduct interspecific hybridization. The germination and seedling establishment rates of the hybrid F₁ seeds， along with authenticity verification， indicated that despite certain hybridization barriers between P. glaucum ‘Ningza No.4’ and P. purpureum ‘purple’， hybrid offspring could still be produced. Furthermore， it was confirmed that due to the similarity in DNA content between the parental lines， flow cytometry was not suitable for authenticity verification of the hybrid offspring； instead， a combination of chromosome counting and molecular marker methods proved to be more accurate and effective. Further integration of agronomic traits and nutritional quality measurements of parents and their hybrid offspring showed that parents and hybrid offspring exhibited significant differences. Some individual hybrid plants had a 46% higher fresh weight than their paternal parent and a 27% higher anthocyanin content. Multiple superior individual plants were selected and propagated. Data collected in the second year indicated that the superior hybrid lines outperformed the parental lines in terms of fresh forage yield， dry forage yield， and anthocyanin content. The triploid hybrid superior strain selected in this study showed excellent performance in terms of yield and anthocyanin content， providing important materials for the subsequent breeding of new forage varieties.

Pennisetum glaucum  /  Pennisetum purpureum ‘purple’  /  Crossbreeding  /  New forage germplasm