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BERSEEM CLOVER¹⁶
Trifolium alexandrinum L., family Leguminosae

Berseem, or Egyptian clover, is a little-known legume in the United States. It is grown to a small extent in southern California, Arizona, Texas, and in other States near the Gulf of Mexico where freezing rarely occurs (Wheeler and Hill 1957*). Temperatures below 25¡ F are frequently fatal to berseem plants (Bashaw and Riewe 1955).
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¹⁶ See "Clovers, General," p. 158

Plant:

Berseem is an erect, 18- to 36-inch, nonreseeding, cool-season, hollow-stem, annual clover, recognizable by its typical cloverlike appearance (Kretschmer 1964). It is a heavy forage producer and grows extremely fast in the mild winter areas. It is grown primarily for its succulent, high-quality forage, which cattle prefer over alfalfa. Hassanein (1953) considered berseem to be the most important forage crop in Egypt. It grows from October to May but produces forage principally from December to March. Seed yields vary from 150 to 500 lb/acre (Wheeler and Hill 1957*).

Inflorescence:

The round to oblong yellowish heads, similar in size and structure to white clover heads, appear shortly after the first of the year. The florets (fig. 50) form one seed each. Berseem is highly attractive to bees, which visit it avidly for nectar and pollen. It sets seed abundantly, more than 70 per head, if pollinating insects are present (Narayanan et al. 1961). Unlike alfalfa, the most vigorous berseem plants set the most seed (Kennedy and Mackie 1925).

Pollination Requirements:

For such a minor crop, the pollination of berseem is quite well established. Chowdhury et al. (1966) stated that it is self-compatible, but tripping is essential for seed set. They stated that wind was an important pollinating agent but presented no data to support this statement. Shamel (1905) reported that bees are absolutely necessary for pollination. This has been verified with caged and open plots by Hassanein (1953), Latif (1956), and Narayanan et al. (1961). The reports leave little doubt that insect pollination is absolutely necessary for profitable seed production. Narayanan et al. (1961) obtained from 19.58 to 70.54 seeds per head of open pollinated berseem plants but only 0.27 to 0.64 seed per head where insects were excluded by 16-mesh wire gauze cages.

Pollinators:

Honey bees are the primary pollinators of berseem. They collect both nectar and pollen (Narayanan et al. 1961).

Pollination Recomendations and Practices:

There are no recommendations on the use of insect pollinators on berseem. Considering its flowering characteristics, the absolute necessity of bees in its pollination, and the time of year it blooms, the equivalent of two to four bees per square yard should be sufficient to set a maximum crop of seed.

LITERATURE CITED:

BASHAW, E. C., and RIEWE, M.
1955. EFFECT OF PERIODIC LOW TEMPERATURE ON BERSEEM CLOVER. Tex. Agr. Expt. Sta. Prog. Rpt. 1818, 3 pp.

CHOWDHURY, J. B., MEHTA, R. K., and JOSHI, A. B.
1966. POLLINATION IN BERSEEM. Indian Jour. Genet. and Plant Breed. 26: 118-120.

HASSANEIN, M. H.
1953. STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF POLLINATING INSECTS, ESPECIALLY THE HONEYBEE, ON THE SEED YIELD OF CLOVER IN EGYPT. Soc. Fouad ler d'Ent. Bul. 37: 337-344. AA-124/54.

KENNEDY, P. A., and MACKIE, W. W.
1925. BERSEEM OR EGYPTIAN CLOVER, TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM L. Calif. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bul. 389, 32 pp.

KRETSCHMER, A. E., JR.
1964. BERSEEM CLOVER - A NEW WINTER ANNUAL FOR FLORIDA. Fla. Agr. Expt. Sta. Cir. S-163, 16 pp.

LATIF, A.
1956. ROLE OF APIS INDICA F. IN THE POLLINATION OF EGYPTIAN CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM LINN.). Pakistan Jour. Sci. Res. 8(1): 48-50. AA-32/59.

NARAYANAN, E. S., SHARMA, P. L., and PHADKE, K. G.
1961. STUDIES ON REQUIREMENTS OF VARIOUS CROPS FOR INSECT POLLINATION - INSECT POLLINATORS OF BERSEEM - EGYPTIAN CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM ALEXANDRINUM) WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO HONEY BEES AND THEIR ROLE IN SEED SETTING. Indian Bee Jour. 23(4/6): 23-30.

SHAMEL, A. D.
1905. RELATION OF BEES TO FERTILIZATION OF CLOVERS. U.S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook 1905: 385-386.

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