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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #168796
Title: VARIATION IN TRAITS OF INTEREST AMONG HEDYSARUM BOREALE ACCESSIONS

Author
item Peel, Michael
item Waldron, Blair
item Jensen, Kevin
item WALKER, SCOTT - WILDLIFE RESOURCES

Submitted to: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/16/2004
Publication Date: 10/31/2004
Citation: Peel, M., Waldron, B.L., Jensen, K.B., Walker, S. 2004. Variation in traits of interest among hedysarum boreale accessions. ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meeting Abstracts.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Hedysarum boreale is a legume native to the Intermountain region of the Western U.S. Land management agencies including the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources have interest in purchasing large volumes of seed of H. boreale. Due to poor seed production, supply is limited resulting in unreasonably high prices. Our objective was to evaluate available sources of germplasm for variation in seed production and other traits of interest. A total of 23 accessions of H. boreale, four listed on the GRIN data base and 19 original collections, were evaluated for date of flowering, seed set and shattering, persistence, rhizome development, and height. Average flowering date differed by as much as 15 d between accessions. Within accessions flowering date differerd by 19 d between plants to as little as 3 d. Shattering and seed loss ranged from 75 to 100% between accessions and 20 to 100% within the best accession. Five of the accessions contained plants with rhizome development, the number of plants with rhizomes within these ranged from less than 5% to nearly 100%. Average height between accessions ranged from 12 to 58 cm. Individual plant height within accessions varied by as much as 79 cm. This preliminary evaluation of H. boreale accessions indicates valuable variation for the traits measured. Generation of a breeding population and selection for the traits of interest should lead to improvements.