RELIABILITY OF FLOWERING AS AN INDICATOR OF WINTER SURVIVAL IN RED CLOVER

Abstract

Flowering response of first-year individual plants of nine varieties of red clover was studied at Arlington, Wisconsin. Plant populations of varieties with high winterhardiness had high percentages of non-flowering plants. Winterkilling of plant types increased progressively from non-flowering Type 1 to profuse flowering Type 5.Highly significant correlations were obtained between per cent winterkilling during the first winter with per cent non-flowering plant Type 1 (r = −0.90 and −0.95 during 2 years), per cent of flowering plant Type 5 (r = +0.92 and +0.80), and the total per cent of non-flowering plants (r = −0.90 and −0.94). Flowering response can be used with a high degree of reliability in establishing the probable persistence of new strains relative to standard varieties and as a selection criterion for hardy plants.