Clover and Other Pasture Legumes

Apache Arrowleaf Clover Officially Released 3/2002

ARMADILLO BURR MEDIC - provides earlier grazing than most other clovers or medics. This winter annual legume germinates in the fall and grows through the winter with flowering beginning in late January or February. Armadillo was selected from a naturalized stand on the Agricultural Research Station at Beeville. This plant has survived in the region for over a century in spite of all that has been done to it. Armadillo burr medic matures and dies in April or early May, so most of the growth comes early, thus minimizing competition with perennial warm season grasses. Armadillo's greatest attribute is its persistence from season to season. It will produce a sufficient seed crop to re-establish itself even under heavy grazing. This variety has consistently produced a hard seed content of 90%. If allowed to go to seed, it will reestablish itself naturally for years, provided the pasture is properly managed for legumes. Planting time in areas south of Waco is from late September through December. Drought tolerance is good with a minimum rainfall requirement of about 20 to 24", depending on distribution of the rainfall. It is cold tolerant to about Waco on the north. Plant Variety Protection for Armadillo has been granted and Armadillo may be sold by variety name only. Armadillo is a TAES variety that has been exclusively licensed to Pogue Agri Partners Inc. in Kenedy, Texas. To purchase seed of Armadillo, contact Pogue Agri Partners, Inc. at 1-800-582-4769 or visit their website at www.pogueagri.com

OVERTON R 18 ROSE CLOVER - Rose clover (Trifolium hirtum All.) is a cool-season annual legume with good reseeding characteristics and tolerance to a wide range of soil pH conditions. In 1983 the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station at Overton, TX, initiated a rose clover improvement program. Selections were made based on cold tolerance, leaf percentage, height, profuse tillering, and late maturity. Overton R 18 was shown to have a longer, later, and more productive seasonal distribution of growth than 'Kondinin' or 'Hykon' rose clover. Total season forage production of Overton R 18 rose clover averaged 65% more than 'Kondinin' over 14 location-year environments. Overton R 18 is well adapted to defoliation by grazing animals. It develops many tillers and will flower under heavy grazing pressure. Removal of animals from the pasture or reduction of stocking rate is recommended at full bloom for high seed production and subsequent reliable reseeding. Plant rose clover at 15 lbs/acre in October or after fall rains begin. Lower seeding rates (5 lbs/acre) may be used to establish stands if forage production is not critical in the establishment year.

APACHE ARROWLEAF CLOVER - Arrowleaf clover is a cross-pollinated, self-sterile, winter annual forage legume. This clover has been very important in forage systems across the southern region, including Texas. Virus diseases can severely reduce arrowleaf production and persistence, with bean yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) causing severe damage and being the most prevalent. BYMV is an aphid-transmitted potyvirus that infects a broad range of plants including 29 different clover species, with red clover and arrowleaf clover the two most economically important. 'Apache' was developed in the TAES Clover Breeding Program at Overton, Texas through seven cycles of selection for resistance to BYMV disease.

Main attributes of Apache Arrowleaf Clover:

Apache was officially released in March of 2002. Plant Variety Protection for Apache has been filed and Apache may be sold by variety name only. Apache is a TAES variety that has been exclusively licensed to East Texas Seed Company in Tyler, Texas. To purchase seed of Apache contact East Texas Seed at 903-597-6637 or visit their website at www.easttexasseedcompany.com

BeeTAM-06, BeeTAM-08, BeeTAM-37, & BeeTAM-57 Bundleflower Varieties

1. ‘BeeWild’ Bundleflower

BeeTAM-06, -08, -37, & -57, are four lines of Bundleflower that have been developed at TAES-Beeville. Each line traces back to a different PI number that was first evaluated in 1992 or 1993 at Beeville. These lines were recommended for release in 2003, and were accepted into the Texas seed certification program in June 2003.

Bundleflower is a herbaceous perennial legume, which grows to 6 to 12 feet tall depending on planting date and environmental conditions. As these plants mature, they tend to become woody on the basal part of the main stems. They have white flowers and pinnately compound leaves. The flowers bear multiple straight or nearly straight pods with several seeds per pod. The characteristic that distinguishes the 4 lines is flowering and seed maturity differences, seed size differences, and with minimal differences in plant character, except that BeeTAM-57 is not only the earliest to flower, with the largest seed, it also has a somewhat unique degree of woodiness… the main stem is larger in diameter and has fewer branches. BeeTAM-06 and BeeTAM-08 have seed about half the size of BeeTAM-57, whereas BeeTAM-37 has seed that is intermediate in size to that of BeeTAM-57 and the BeeTAM-06 and BeeTAM-08 set. BeeTAM-57 tends to be a bit taller that the other three lines. BeeTAM-06 and BeeTAM-08 are different, but their plant characteristics are quite similar. In field evaluations, the BeeTAM-06 and BeeTAM-08 tend to perform differently of different soils, making the need to keep both lines in the blend that is marketed as ‘BeeWild’. There are observed differences in adaptation to rainfall differences and to winter freeze tolerances, another reason to keep all four lines in the BeeWild blend.

‘BeeWild’ is a trademark of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and is blend of BeeTAM- 06, -08, -37, & -57. ‘BeeWild’ is licensed exclusively to Pogue Agri Partners, Inc. of Kenedy, Texas. Seed is now commercially available by contacting Pogue Agri Partners at http://www.pogueagri.com