Chamaecrista rotundifolia habit1 (9525520271)

Description:

Description: Introduced, warm-season, short-lived perennial, prostrate to semi-erect legume with a shallow taproot. Leaves have 2 asymmetrical, obovate to rounded leaflets, each 12-35 mm long. Flowerheads consist of 1-2 flowers in the leaf axils, each with 5 symmetrically arranged yellow petals. Pods are linear, flat, sparsely to very hairy and 35-40 mm long. Flowering is in the warmer months. A native of North and South America, it is sown for grazing and naturalized in frost free areas. It is suited to free-draining, lower fertility, acid soils and cannot tolerate heavy soils or waterlogging. Not recommended for fertile soils. Frost can limit spread. Wynn is the only sown cultivar. Seeds germinate and establish quickly and plants can rapidly grow and spread. Produces good weight gains in cattle, but old stems have low feed value. It has low palatability for cattle during the growing season and is not readily grazed until grass quality has declined sufficiently in autumn. It is not grazed by horses. Grazing management should aim to limit selective grazing during the growing season and maintain plants in a low radiating growth habit. Short duration heavy grazing with appropriate rest periods is best to achieve this. Grazing periods can be extended in winter in frost free areas when grasses are dormant. In areas with heavy frosts grazing should occur before first frost to avoid total leaf loss. Continuous heavy grazing leads to a decline in companion grasses, dominance by round-leafed cassia and invasion by weeds. Date: 27 April 2009, 14:20. Source: Chamaecrista rotundifolia habit1. Author: Harry Rose from South West Rocks, Australia.