Premium
Interrelationships of Some Morphological and Physiological Characteristics of Ladino Clover 1
Author(s) -
Knight W. E.
Publication year - 1953
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1953.00021962004500050005x
Subject(s) - knight , league , griffin , forage , state (computer science) , citation , bachelor , political science , library science , agronomy , mathematics , history , computer science , biology , law , algorithm , classics , physics , astronomy
HE importance of white clover as a pasture legume is Tgene ra l ly recognized in America as well as in many other countries where pastures provide abundant grazing for livestock. Of the white clovers, Ladino, Trifolium repens L., has rapidly become important as a forage legume in the United States in spite of frequent early loss of stands. Since stand longevity is a major problem in growing Ladino clover, a knowledge of the relation of morphological and physiological characters to persistence is of considerable interest and value to the plant breeder. Atwood and Garber (1) reported that better sods were formed by white clover plants that were taller, more spreading and more densely growing. However, growth habit of indi-' vidual spaced plants was not closely correlated with performance in sod. Stolon size of Ladino clover has been reported to be related to winter injury. Smith (3) studied . the differential survival of Ladino and common white clover encased in ice and found that Ladino types were more severely injured than common white types. There was an association of injury with the large Ladino stolons, and the injury was accompanied by accumulations of high concentrations and pressures of carbon dioxide. Ronningen3 reported that a slight but significant negative correlation exists between winter injury and estimated stolon coarseness. H e also concluded that plants with a close reticulate stolon pattern as opposed to an open, radiating type of growth tended to suffer less winter injury. Significanc but not close associations were found between the degree of winter injury and firstand second-year flowering. Ronningen3 observed that common white clover types flowered much more profusely than Ladino type plants during the second year. There was a significant positive correlation (+ 0.37) between firstand second-year injury scores. Vigorous individuals in Ronningen's experiments showed a greater spread and a more closely reticulate stolon pattern, whereas, large, coarse plants tended to exhibit a more open, radiating type of stolon growth. Common white clover types were scored higher for vigor and were superior in