Growth and chemical composition of lotononis (Lotononis bainesii) under simulated winter conditions

Abstract

Lotononis remains green in subtropical winters. To determine the effect of low temperature on growth, experiments were done under controlled temperature and light conditions. With a simulated midwinter day of three hours of frost and 10i hours of light and no other stress imposed, plants made slight but definite growth. It is inferred that winter temperatures do not completely prevent growth. When additional stress of partial defoliation was imposed, the amount of growth was reduced to about 15 per cent of that of undefoliated plants. This suggests that if lotononis is grazed in winter any further growth would be of insignificant practical value. Cold stress had little or no effect on mineral composition of the plants. The composition of nodules is recorded.