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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Plant Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #63374
Title: REGISTRATION OF ARS-2620 BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL

Author
item Beuselinck, Paul
item Steiner, Jeffrey

Submitted to: Crop Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/15/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The purpose of this article is to register 'ARS-2620' birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) with the Crop Science Society of America. Dawn was developed and released in 1995 by the Agricultural Research Service - USDA in cooperation with Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil was developed from the mating of five wild germplasm accessions from Morocco with the commercial cultivars Norcen and AU-Dewey and germplasm MU-81. It is the first birdsfoot trefoil cultivar that exhibits rhizomes. The development of birdsfoot trefoil with rhizomes should aid plant survival. ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil is intended for pastures and open range, and may have application for revegetation of disturbed sites such as mine spoils, highway right-of-ways, and cut-over forests.

Technical Abstract: ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) cultivar was released by the Agricultural Research Service-USDA in cooperation with the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in March 1995. ARS-2620 is the first birdsfoot trefoil cultivar that exhibits rhizomes. ARS-2620 was developed from the mating of five wild germplasm accessions (G31272, G31273, G31276, G31298, and G31317) from Morocco with the commercial cultivars Norcen and AU-Dewey and germplasm MU-81. The F1 progeny were established in a field site near Columbia, Missouri in June 1991, and evaluated for rhizome production, vigor, dry matter production, forage quality, incidence of disease, seed production, and winterhardiness through spring 1993. Selected F1 progeny were vegetatively-propagated for open-pollinated seed production in isolation. Equal numbers of seed collected from each plant constituted the Syn 1 (Breeder) seed lot of ARS-2620. ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil is similar to its commercial parents, Norcen and AU-Dewey, but mor variable in morphology, like MU-81. It is semierect, with small- to medium-sized leaves and fine- to medium-sized stems. It contains a larger number of early-flowering plants than Norcen or AU-Dewey. ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil produces rhizomes and is easily distinguished from other cultivars. Development of ARS-2620 birdsfoot trefoil was intended for pastures and open range, and may have application for revegetation of disturbed sites such as mine spoils, highway right-of-ways, and cut-over forests. Breeder seed will be maintained by USDA-ARS, Plant Genetics Research Unit, Columbia, MO. Protection for ARS-2620 has been sought under the Plant Variety Protection Act of 1994.