Evaluation of Yellow Serradella for Southern Forage Systems.

Yellow serradella (Ornithopus compressus L.) is an annual cool-season forage legume that tolerates acidic and high aluminum soils.  Eleven plant introduction lines of yellow serradella and the cultivar Uniserra were evaluated at Overton, TX in 2015-2016.   Seedlings were grown in the greenhouse for 55 days before field transplanting on 2 Dec. 2016. Individual plants were spaced planted and arranged in a completely randomized design with unequal replications. Total plants evaluated for each line ranged from eight to fifteen.  Plant diameter was measured on 15 March and 19 April 2016.  Flowering was noted on a weekly basis in April and May.  Seed was harvested in mid June.  Differences were noted in winter survival, winter growth, date of flowering and seed production.  Lines were identified with both high forage production potential and rapid spring growth rates.