| DESCRIPTION: Pubescent or glabrous, leguminous, prostrate to semi-erect herb reaching up to 40 cm in height. Deep rooted. Leaves imparipinnate, with 5-9 paired, elliptic-blong leaflets. Inflorescences are axillary racemes, dense with 1-11 florets, bluish or reddish. USE: It provides good quality forage of high nutritive value, with DM digestibility of 802 g/ha metabolizable energy. It is tolerant of heavy grazing and can be conserved as hay or silage. GROWING PERIOD: Annual. COMMON NAMES: Biserrula. FURTHER INF: It is native to the Mediterranean areas of Europe and north Africa and the Canary Islands, usually found below 1000 m. It has also been found in the highlands of east Africa where it is classified as subspecies leiocarpa. It is adapted to a wide range of soils, including light-textured, highly acid soils. It is drought tolerant, deep-rooted and suitable for low rainfall conditions , as low as 350 mm per year, but intolerant of waterlogging. It produces the most vigorous growth in late spring early summer. It requires inoculation of seed with an effective strain of Mesorhizobium when sown onto land for the first time. |