SELECTION FOR AND AGAINST CREEPING-ROOTEDNESS WITHIN CREEPING-ROOTED ALFALFA CULTIVARS

Abstract

Alfalfa (Medicago media Pers.) synthetics of creeping-rooted (C) and non-creeping-rooted (NC) plants selected from populations of the cultivars Roamer and Drylander contained significantly different proportions of creeping-rooted to non-creeping-rooted plants in Roamer, but not in Drylander. There was a trend for the regrowth after cutting to be somewhat greater in the NC synthetics than in the C synthetics. Forage yield differentials in seeded tests at three locations were generally not significant, but on the overall station basis the Roamer NC strain yielded 5% more than the Roamer C strain. The study indicated that creeping-rootedness in alfalfa is associated with slower regrowth, probably because most shoots of creeping plants are initiated below the ground surface while those of non-creepers arise from the crown above ground.