Evaluation of clovers in dry hill country 10. Subterranean clover in North Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

Results from the introduction of white (Trifolium repens L.) and subterranean (T. subterraneum L.) clovers are reported for two summer-dry sites in the South Island of New Zealand. The main North Canterbury site was located within a grazed, sunny hill face. It proved too extreme for white clover which failed to survive beyond the first year. All subterranean clover cultivars were still present after 5 years. Medium-season subterranean clovers (‘Mt Barker’, ‘Howard’, ‘Nangeela’, ‘Woogenellup’) performed best as did large-seeded resident clovers, but seedling numbers in the poorest cultivars (‘Tallarook’, ‘Clare’, ‘Larisa’, ‘Seaton Park’) were probably below replacement level. An ungrazed site in the McKenzie Basin gave similar ranking of subterranean clover cultivars.

Keywords:

• hill country
• subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.)
• persistence
• seeds
• seedling establishmen