Defoliation of Panicled Tick‐Clover, Tweedy's Tick‐Clover, and Tall Bush‐Clover: II. Herbage Nutritive Value and Condensed Tannin Concentrations

Abstract

Few native herbaceous perennial warm‐season legumes are available for cultivation in the southern United States. These would be useful for pastures, biomass production, wildlife plantings, rangeland reseeding, or native prairie restoration. Three native perennial legumes were selected from an initial screening of north Texas germplasm for potential domestication based on successful establishment, ease of seed harvest, and herbage production. Response to herbage removal was evaluated by measuring forage nutritive value when clipped at 10‐, 20‐ and 40‐cm height (whenever regrowth exceeded 20 cm above cutting height) over three seasons in 2‐ by 2‐m plots with 0.5 m between plants. Tweedy's tick‐clover (Desmodium tweedyi Britton) became reproductive in June so herbage acid detergent fiber (ADF) (338–373 g kg−1) was greater (P < 0.05) than tall bush‐cover (Lespedeza stuevei Nutt.) and panicled tick‐clover [D. paniculatum (L.) DC.] that both flowered primarily in September. Herbage N concentrations were uniformly (P > 0.05) high (31.7 g kg−1) the first year and unaffected by harvest height all 3 yr; by the third year, however, tall bush‐cover had the lowest (P < 0.05) N concentration (22.6 g kg−1) and in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD; 651 g kg−1). Condensed tannin (CT) concentrations exceeded 120 g kg−1 for both the panicled tick‐clover and the tall bush‐clover although fraction distribution varied among entries. These three native North American legumes show potential as nutritious forage components to natural and cultivated systems.

Genotypic and Phenotypic Variability in Three Prairie Acacia Accessions

“…Foster et al (2007) and Muir et al (2005) reported whole‐herbage ADL concentrations for prairie acacia from 60 to 70 g kg −1 . Acid detergent lignin concentrations for 2008 were similar to those reported for other native perennial legumes by Muir et al (2008); however, ADL concentrations for 2009 in our study were greater than those previously reported.…”

“…T here is growing interest among land managers in finding native, herbaceous perennial legumes to add species diversity to restored, indigenous plant communities or as forage sources for livestock and wildlife. Such uses include prairie and rangeland restoration, native grasslands reconstruction, cropland improvement, and many others (Muir and Bow, 2008; Muir et al, 2008). In the south‐central United States, for example, warm‐season perennial grasses provide the main source of forage for livestock and often peak in yield and quality between May and early July, with limited growth and declining nutritive value from mid‐July through mid‐September (Evers, 2008; Rao and Northrup, 2009).…”

Sustainable, low‐input, warm‐season, grass–legume grassland mixtures: mission (nearly) impossible?

“…), prairie bundleflower ( Desmanthus leptolobus ), leadplant ( Amorpha canescens ), false indigo ( Amorpha fruticosa ) and Rhynchosia latifolia (Posler et al. , 1993; Muir and Bow, 2008; Muir et al. , 2008; Pitman, 2009b).…”

Nutritive value for ruminants of two herbaceous South American native legumes: Adesmia bicolor and Adesmia macrostachya

“…Natural pastures in South American temperate regions have been dramatically degraded because of overgrazing practices (Muir et al 2008). Furthermore, unfavourable environmental conditions (low temperatures, extended drought periods and low N content in soils) in arid and semiarid regions during winter contribute to restricted feed availability.…”