Defoliation of Panicled Tick-Clover, Tweedy's Tick-Clover, and Tall Bush-Clover: II. Herbage Nutritive Value and Condensed Tannin Concentrations
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Few native herbaceous perennial warmseason 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 40cm height (whenever regrowth exceeded 20 cm above cutting height) over three seasons in 2 by 2m plots with 0.5 m between plants. Tweedy's tickclover (Desmodium tweedyi Britton) became reproductive in June so herbage acid detergent fiber (ADF) (338373 g kg1) was greater (P < 0.05) than tall bushcover (Lespedeza stuevei Nutt.) and panicled tickclover [D. paniculatum (L.) DC.] that both flowered primarily in September. Herbage N concentrations were uniformly (P > 0.05) high (31.7 g kg1) the first year and unaffected by harvest height all 3 yr; by the third year, however, tall bushcover had the lowest (P < 0.05) N concentration (22.6 g kg1) and in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD; 651 g kg1). Condensed tannin (CT) concentrations exceeded 120 g kg1 for both the panicled tickclover and the tall bushclover although fraction distribution varied among entries. These three native North American legumes show potential as nutritious forage components to natural and cultivated systems.
