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Trifolium (calcaricum)

Jonathan Kubesch
Breeder, Consultant
Kubesch Seed Company
Spring Hill, Tennessee 37174
6148678805
jakubesch@gmail.com

Family Scientific Name: Fabaceae
Family Common Name: Legume
Scientific Name: Trifolium calcaricum
Common Name: Running glade clover
Ecotype: PI 641356
General Distribution: Cedar limestone glades in Middle Tennessee
Propagation Goal: Plants
Propagation Method: Seed
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: Seed
Time To Grow: 5 months
Target Specifications: Stoloniferous plant material
Propagule Collection: Ordered from USDA GRIN
Propagule Processing: PI 641356/S-209-3 is the currently available germplasm from the United States Department of Agriculture [USDA]. This seed supply is curated in Pullman, Washington, but originally comes from Norman Taylor’s accessions (University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY). The PI 641356 nomenclature is standard for the USDA. Dr. Taylor’s system “S-209-3” translates as “the 3rd accession of the 209th clover species collected” (Ken Quesenberry, personal communication). Origin is unknown, though the accession is mentioned and used in Quesenberry et al. (1997). The accession may trace to a then-unlabeled Tennessee germplasm referenced in Taylor et al. (1994). The Tennessee accession was collected by Julian Campbell. According to packet labelling, the accession seed presented here dates to 2002.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Seed came to Knoxville, TN February 28, 2019. Seed was started March 11, 2019 after some comparisons in seed morphology with T. stoloniferum and T. virginicum. 10 seed were placed on moist germination towel, rolled into ragdolls, secured with a small rubber band, and placed into plastic snack bags then sealed; this methodology came as a modified form of D.D. Wolf’s ragdoll test (Ball et al., 2015). Seed were not scarified. The ragdoll was left on an office desk for a week at room temperature (~22 degC). Germination evaluations occurred March 18, 2019. Resulting seeds were categorized as normal, imbibed, or hard. Unlike T. stoloniferum, running glade clover does not appear to require scarification.
Length of Establishment Phase: 2 weeks
Active Growth Phase: After germination, normal seedlings went into cell packs in the University of Tennessee Central Greenhouseon March 18, 2019. An all-purpose peat-based media was chosen based on similar efforts with T. stoloniferum (Lambert LM-AP Professional Growing Media All Purpose). The greenhouse maintained supplemental lighting and temperature conditions for adjacent soybeans (15.6 degC nights). Plants were misted every other day on weekdays at first, but then on a Tuesday/Friday schedule. Plants achieved V3 March 28, 2019. Triple-14 was applied at the recommended label rate on April 19, 2019 (Osmocote, Scotts Miracle Gro).
Plants were transplanted April 26, 2019 from cell packs to small pots (East Jordan Plastics Inc, Shuttle Pot SP-600). On April 30, 2019, plants were moved to the Southern Greenhouse shadehouse. Rabbit herbivory in the shadehouse necessitated the construction of a clover cage (chicken wire stretched to form a 1m x 1m x 0.5m cage), which sheltered the plants. Triple-14 was reapplied June 17, 2019, and containers were weeded for Oxalis. Tree seedlings shaded the plants before shade awning was stretched over the house. Plants remained diminutive relative to adjacent accessions of T. stoloniferum and T. virginicum, but had better survival rates.
Length of Active Growth Phase: ~5 months
Other Comments: Further steps in conservation
1. Trace existing USDA accessions back to source populations.
2. Voucher accessions with explicit source populations and sample size notes
3. Develop a complete life-history protocol ex-situ; rediscover Norman Taylor’s propagation methodology
References: Ball, D.M., C.S. Hoveland, and G.D. Lacefield. 2015. Southern Forages (5th Edition). International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), Peachtree Corners, GA.
Kubesch, J.O.C. 2018. Edaphic and morphological factors affecting running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) ecology. Ohio State University. Columbus, OH.
Taylor, N.L., J. M. Gillett, J. J. N. Campbell, and S. Berger. 1994. Crossing and Morphological Relationships among Native Clovers of Eastern North America. Crop Sci. 34:1097-1100.
Quesenberry, K.H., N. M. Call, D. E. Moon, and R. A. Dunn. 1997. Response of Native Eastern North American Trifolium spp. to Root-Knot Nematodes. Crop Sci. 37:270-274.

Citation:

Kubesch, Jonathan Omar Cole. 2019. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Trifolium calcaricum Plants Seed; Kubesch Seed Company Spring Hill, Tennessee. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2024/11/24). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.