Morphological traits and yield of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) genotypes with varying inflorescence length

摘要

Two red clover breeding strains with elongated flower heads, developed by one of the authors (H.Góral), were studied for forage and seed yield and compared to the standard cultivar 'Nike'. In addition, six morphological shoot traits were measured and their interrelations were computed. The leaf area index (LAI) of successive cuts in two harvest years was determined on the basis of shoot density and leaf area of individual shoots. All three genotypes exhibited a high leaf area on shoots and a very high forage productivity. Among the morphological traits only shoot height could be a good selective criterion because it is easily measured, is significantly associated with shoot weight and shoot leaf area and its variation is low. Both strains, particularly the one with longer inflorescences belong to short-lived red clover forms giving satis factory forage and seed yields in the first harvest year. Depending on the strain the number of seeds per elongated inflorescence in the first harvest year was higher by 92 and 42% compared to that of a standard cultivar.