Legumes - Alyceclover - Forages of Florida - Solutions for Your Life - UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

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Alyceclover
Species:	Alyceclover
Scientific Name:	Alysicarpus vaginalis
Cultivars:	Common types
Growth Habit:	Erect, with thin stems, simple leaf (one leaflet per leaf), and leaf marks in the midvein; pink flowers.
Life Cycle:	Annual
Origin:	Old World Tropics and parts of temperate Asia
Production Season:	May to September
Nutritive Value:	Varies depending on maturity (leaf:stem ratio) Usually medium to high crude protein; medium to high digestibility. Crude protein is 16 to 18%, and digestibility (IVOMD) 67 to 73%
Use:	Grazing and hay Use on 2-yr rotation with Peanut and Bahiagrass in central Florida
Adaptation
Soil:	Sand to clay, with moderate fertility
pH:	5.5 -6.0
Rainfall:	Requires moist conditions but well-drained soils
Temperature:	Warm season
Management
Planting Date:	Mid April to late June
Planting Depth:	0.5-1 inch
Seeding Rate:	15 to 20 lb/acre. Use the high rate when the seedbed and soil conditions are less favorable. Inoculate seed with rhizobium bacteria type 'R', Clover group
Seed Cost:	$1.4/lb; $21 to 28/acre
Fertilization:	For fertilization info click this link
Production:	1.5 to 2 ton/acre (in hay production). Hay should be cut when plants are 18-24 inches tall In naturalized mixtures with perennial warm-season grasses, its dry matter production is low. Nitrogen yield as an annual cover crop is 20-65 lb N/acre.
Notes
Grown throughout Florida. Susceptible to root-knot nematodes (peanut root-knot, and southern root-knot nematode). If the field has history of vegetable crops (specially those in the cucurbit family: cucumber, melon, squash, pumpkin), it is something to be aware of as they attract nematodes. Some stunting should be expected. If planted immediately after a highly fertilized crop such as melons, fertilizer or lime may not be needed. Nitrogen is available 4 to 6 weeks or less after incorporation or decay in the soil depending on weathering conditions. Dodder weed (Cuscusta/Cassytha spp. complex) is a parasitic vine that may kill the plant to the roots (control is difficult; removal and burning of material or buried in soil 2 feet deep or more).

Alyceclover

Adaptation

Management

Notes