Morocco, a plant collection tour 1987: a report compiled for the Grain Research Committee of Western Australia
1987
Francis, C.M. (Western Australian Dept. of Agriculture, Perth. Plant Production Div.)
Some 420 seed samples were collected from 115 sites in North Western Morocco. Lupinus, Medicago and Trifolium were the main genera. Severe overgrazing and a dry season resulted in only sparse populations of legumes at most sites. The grazing pressure is causing genetic erosion especially of vulnerable species like Lupinus and Vicia. Medic collections were made over a rainfall transect from 200 - 800 mm and over an altitude ranging from near sea level to 1300 m. Medicago polymorpha was the most widely adapted of the Medicago species. M. truncatula was most common at lower altitudes. Amongst Trifolium species, Trifolium subterraneum and brachycalcycinum were most often found on neutral to acid sandy or friable soils. Sixteen collections of Trifolium fragiferum or T. resupinatum were made, always from damp situations. A brief discussion of the potential and problems of a medic-based ley farming system is included, with emphasis on the use of species mixtures, most logically of local ecotypes, when these become available.
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