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Germination Response of Arrowleaf, Bail, and Crimson Clover Varieties to Temperature 1
Author(s) -
Hoveland Carl S.,
Elkins Donald M.
Publication year - 1965
Publication title -
crop science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.76
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1435-0653
pISSN - 0011-183X
DOI - 10.2135/cropsci1965.0011183x000500030014x
Subject(s) - citation , horticulture , library science , art history , art , computer science , biology
Crimson clover is the most commonly used winter annual legume in the southeastern United States. During autumn months germinating seed of this clover may encounter soil temperatures ranging from very high to near freezing. Some comxnercially available crimson clover varieties have been developed by natural selection in reseeding fields of a localized area. As a result, varietal differences in germination response to temperature extremes might ’be expected. The effects of temperature on seed germination have been reviewed by several workers (10, 11, 15). Little attention has been given to cool season annual legumes. Toole and. Hollowell (14) reported that sprouts of persian and subterranean clover were more vigorous than those of cluster, buffalo, and low hop clovers when germinated at 5° C. Fayemi (6) found that at a constant temperature of 6.7 ° C. the germination of ’Talladega’ crimson clover seed was greatly reduced, whereas seed of alfalfa, red, Ladino, and alsike clovers germinated satisfactorily. Varietal differences in germination response to temperature have been reported for several crops. Pinnell (12) reported that corn. inbred lines had heritable differences in ability to germinate at low temperature. Certain wheat selections were found by Burleigh et al. (2) to be more tolerant of high temperature during germination than other varieties. Similar germination differences among varieties have been reported for sweet corn (7) and okra (5). Previous work with forage crops has shown that varietal differences exist in germination response to temperature. Canode et al. (3) found differences among orchardgrass varieties. Quinlivan (13) reported that subterranean clover varieties differed in response to fluctuating temperatures. The present stt~dy was made to determine if differences in germination at continuous and fluctuating low temperatures existed between several common annual clovers. Germination of crimson clover varieties was studied at both high and low temperatures.