Abstract: F₁ hybrids between two cultivars (E142 and E022) with different cold tolerance were produced. A total of 83 true hybrids, together with their parents, were tested for cold tolerance using an electrolyte leakage (EL) assay based on LT₅₀. The inheritance of cold tolerance in the F₁ population was analyzed using the Major Genes and Polygenes Genetic Analysis method. 1) The variation of cold tolerance in the F₁ population was high, with the LT₅₀ ranging from -9.63 to -1.45℃ and the coefficient variation was -29.27%; 2) The frequency distribution of cold tolerance in F₁ populations showed a continuous mixed normal distribution pattern, a diagnostic of major genes and polygene inheritance models; 3) The best genetic model for cold tolerance of this population was model B-1, namely that this character was controlled by two major genes with additive-dominant-epistatic effects, and the heritability of the major genes was 91.28%. These results not only provided useful information but also basic materials for genetic improvement of cold tolerance in Eremochloa ophiuroides.