Chapter 3: Clover and Some Relatives


Chapter 3: Clover and Some Relatives


PERSIAN CLOVER 31
Trifolium resupinatum L., family Leguminosae

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31 See "Clovers, General."

Persian clover is an annual legume adapted to the heavy low-lying soils of the Southern States from Tennessee southward. It is grown for pasture, for hay, and as a green manure crop. The area, volume, or value of production is not large as compared to other clovers. Not too much has been published on this plant (USDA 1960).

Plant:

The seeds are planted in the fall, and a rosette of leaves is formed during the winter. When spring comes, the upright stems appear and grow rapidly to 8 to 24 inches. They flower and produce seeds in late spring or early summer, then the entire plant dies - somewhat earlier in the season than white clover. The stems do not root at the nodes or creep on the surface, as do many other species of Trifolium, but because they are hollow they lodge badly. Once established, reseeding is unnecessary as seeds are produced in abundance, many of which shatter.

Inflorescence:

The heads are small, pink to light purple, and somewhat flat. They are about the size of those of wild or small white clover and are borne in the leaf axils on 1/2 to 2-inch stems. Honey bees work Persian clover flowers for nectar and pollen (Hollowell 1943). Weaver and Weihing (1960) stated that plants reaching full bloom about April 15 on the gulf coast of Texas still had a considerable amount of bloom on May 7. The flowers of one cultivar were fairly attractive to bees, whereas those of another were seldom visited.

Pollination Requirements:

Lancaster (1949) indicated that Persian clover is not dependent on bees. Hollowell (1943) stated that the flowers are self-fertile and self- pollinating, but honey bees work the flowers for nectar and pollen and undoubtedly help in increasing seed production. Weaver and Weihing (1960) also stated that Persian clover does not require insect pollination, but their caged plots that included bees yielded about nine times as much seed as plots caged without bees. Wheeler and Hill (1967*) also indicated that bees increase seed production. The degree of help is not clear, but the small amount of data available indicate that bees are highly beneficial and that they should be used if maximum seed production is desired.

Pollinators:

The meager evidence available indicates that honey bees are the principal pollinators of Persian clover. Weaver and Weihing (1960) stated that Persian clover yielded "little nectar per blossom, but the bees foraged from the individual florets very rapidly," which helped to compensate for the small amount of nectar.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

The number of colonies per acre or bees per square yard of Persian clover to provide maximum benefit has not been determined. The desired concentration of bees is probably similar to that for crimson clover.

LITERATURE CITED:

HOLLOWELL, E. A.
1943. PERSIAN CLOVER U. S. Dept. Agr. Farmers' Bul. 1929, 10 pp.

LANCASTER, R. R.
1949. CLOVERS FOR TEXAS PASTURES. Tex. Agr. Ext. Serv. Pub. B-168, 24 pp.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
1960. PERSIAN CLOVER- A LEGUME FOR THE SOUTH. U. S. Dept. Agr. Leaflet 484, 8 pp.

WEAVER, N., and WEIHING R. M.
1960. POLLINATION OF SEVERAL CLOVERS BY HONEY BEES. Agron. Jour. 52: 183185.


Capturé par MemoWeb ŕ partir de http://www.beeculture.com/content/pollination_handbook/persian.html  le 10/03/2006