Variation in flowering times and agronomic characteristics of Medicago laciniata (L.) Miller collected from diverse locations in New South Wales

Abstract

Thirty-two accessions of Medicago laciniata (L.) Miller collected from throughout western New South Wales and 1 from southern Queensland, 4 accessions of M. minima (L.) Bartalini, 1 of M. polymorpha L., and 3 cultivars of M. truncatula Gaertner were grown in rows at Condobolin over 2 years. There were no significant differences between the M. laciniata accessions for flowering time, dry matter score, seed yield, pod weight, and seed weight in either year. No differences were detected in plant or pod morphology. This lack of variation means that any accession may be used as parent material for a breeding program to reduce pod spine and potential to contaminate wool. Should absence of phenotypic variation be indicative of no genotypic difference, it follows that all the M. laciniata accessions had a common origin.