Evaluation of tedera [(Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) C.H. Stirton var. albomarginata]) as a forage alternative for sheep in temperate southern Australia

Abstract

Bituminaria bituminosa (L.) C.H. Stirton, commonly known as tedera, is a perennial legume of interest in Australia due to its adaptation to Mediterranean environments. Field experiments were conducted at two sites in Victoria, Australia, a high rainfall site at Hamilton and a low rainfall site at Bealiba, to evaluate tedera var. albomarginata lines against other forage species. At Hamilton, tedera achieved similar seedling densities to lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) following sowings in late spring 2009 and early winter 2010 (30–60 seedlings/m2). Forage production from the spring-sown tedera was between 1.0 and 2.3 t DM/ha at harvests in March and May 2010, but from May onwards the species failed to remain productive and its content in the swards decreased to become <10%. Forage production from all early winter-sown tedera swards was low (<0.5 t DM/ha). At Bealiba, some of the tedera lines outyielded lucerne. The tedera at Bealiba had a vigour rating of 8.3, on a scale of 1–10, in the summer of 2008–09, after surviving three summers. The tedera lines evaluated are unlikely to persist in cold wet winter environments but in drier zones tedera may persist and offer good DM yields of high nutritive value.