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Seedling White Clover Response to Defoliation

Plant and Soil Science Dep., Box 9649, Mississippi State, MS 39762

G. E. Brink^* and D. E. Rowe

USDA-ARS, Forage Research Unit, P.O. Box 5367, Mississippi State, MS 39762

^* Corresponding author (gebl{at}ra.msstate.edu).

Defoliation during the early stages of seedling development can influence growth of white clover (Trifolium repens L.). Our objective was to determine the response of cultivars with diverse leaf sizes to defoliation across a range of seedling growth stages. ‘Regal’ (large-leaf), ‘Louisiana S-1’ (medium-large-leaf), ‘Grasslands Huia’ (medium-smallleaf), and ‘Aberystwyth S184’ (small-leaf) were grown in the greenhouse and were initially clipped to remove all leaf (except cotyledons) and petiole tissue (1.0-cm stubble) when seedlings attained a unifoliolate leaf or one, two, four, and eight trifoliolate leaves. Seedlings were subsequently clipped in the same manner every 7 or 28 d for the next 28 d. Plant response to defoliation was assessed 7, 14, 21, and 28 d after the last clipping. Seedling shoot dry weight of all cultivars increased linearly in response to initial leaf stage when subsequent clipping occurred every 7 d after the initial defoliation. When subsequent clipping was delayed 28 d, defoliation after the four-trifoliolate stage did not influence shoot weight of any cultivar except Regal. Despite fewer numbers of leaves after regrowth, seedling leaf area of Regal was always greater than that of the other cultivars. Number of stolon branches of Regal and Louisiana S-1 increased in response to leaf stage at initial defoliation (0.15 branches stage^–1), while that of Grasslands Huia and Aberystwyth S184 was relatively unchanged after the four- to six-trifoliolate stage. Permitting white clover seedlings to attain advanced leaf stages before initial defoliation and increasing the time interval before subsequent defoliation will enhance seedling growth and potential survival.

Received for publication November 30, 1994.

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