Herbage and seed production of three barrel medic (Medicago truncatula) cultivars and harbinger medic (Medicago littoralis) in the Victorian Mallee

Abstract

The herbage and seed production of three barrel medic (Medicago truncatula Gaertn.) cultivars and harbinger medic (Medicago littoralis Rhode) were compared for five years in first- and second-year pure ungrazed stands at the Mallee Research Station, Walpeup, Victoria. The cultivars did not differ consistently in spring production of herbage, but they did differ in winter production. Harbinger medic produced almost twice as much winter herbage as commercial barrel medic and Cyprus barrel medic. Barrel medic 173 produced more winter herbage than the commercial or Cyprus cultivars, but less than harbinger medic. Harbinger medic and Cyprus barrel medic flowered a fortnight earlier, and produced more seed than commercial barrel medic and barrel medic 173.