Scientific name(s)
Stylosanthes seabrana
Strengths
- Perennial (2-4 years) good seeder
- Grows on heavy clay and loam soils
- Drought tolerant
- Grows in tropics and sub-tropics
- High quality grazing value, suitable for hay
- Tolerates heavy grazing in a mixed pasture
- Anthracnose resistant.
Limitations
- Frost sensitive, drops leaves
- Rhizobium requirements uncertain and difficult to maintain alive with high soil temperatures with surface sowing
- No growth and loses leaf in winter
- Seasonal flooded areas.
Plant description
Plant: Erect, branching, green bushy, 40-70 cm tall (varies with soil and rainfall); (intermediate between S. scabra and S. hamata)
Stems: Fine palatable stems, woody base, cv. Unica has greenish stems and cv. Primar has reddish stems when mature
Leaves: Tri-foliate, lanceolate, smooth, some bristles on lower midrib, veins prominent and whitish on underside
Flowers: Yellow, small, 'pea' type (cv. Primar flowers earlier than cv. Unica, especially in the first year)
Pods: 2-segmented, upper seed only has small beak 2-3mm, 4-5mm long, lower seed 2-3mm
Seeds: 1.5mm long, light brown-cream colour, 450,000 podded seed/kg and 690,000 dehulled seeds/kg.
Pasture type and use
Mixed grass/legume grazing pasture or summer ley pasture on clay cropping soils, requires grazing management to maintain a mixed pasture, suitable for making high quality hay.
Where it grows
Rainfall
500-1000 mm.
Soils
Drained medium to heavy textured soils, clay loams to cracking heavy clays, neutral to alkaline soils, responds to higher fertility.
Temperature
Prefers tropical temperatures, survives light frosts (-80 C) although drops leaves and tops may be killed.
Establishment
Companion species
Sown alone or mixed grass pasture - Bambatsi panic, buffel grass, Sabi grass, native bluegrass; Legumes - Desmanthusspp.
Sowing/planting rates as single species
2-4 kg/ha, germinable seed, treatment (scarification) for hard seed may be required, shallow or surface planting recommended.
Sowing/planting rates in mixtures
0.5-3 kg/ha (hard seed treatment) varies with companion species.
Sowing time
October to March, depending on rainfall and heatwave conditions. An early sowing time allows a longer establishment season before winter.
Inoculation
Specific Caatinga stylo rhizobium (CB3481 current recommendation).
Fertiliser
Responds to phosphorus (10-20 kg/ha); zinc, sulphur and molybdenum may be required on heavy clays.
Management
Maintenance fertliser
Superphosphate (10-20 kg P /ha) depending on soil fertility.
Grazing/cutting
Tolerates heavy grazing when established, early summer grazing favours the stylo while green grass is selected; stylo is selected with late summer grazing; can be cut making good quality hay.
Seed production
Prolific seeder, responds to irrigation and fertiliser, >500kg/ha potential seed production.
Ability to spread
Early summer grazing promotes spread by reducing grass competition.
Weed potential
Early summer grazing promotes spread by reducing grass competition.
Major pests
No insect problems under grazing.
Major diseases
No disease problems under grazing, seed crops in humid environments may have anthracnose and botrytis problems.
Herbicide susceptibility
Seedlings have some susceptibility to 2,4-D products, while established plants have a small degree of tolerance, suspected susceptibility to trifluralin.
Animal production
Feeding value
High quality; 23% CP, 0.22% P and 22% ADF in the leaf, 11% CP, 0.17% P, and 38% ADF in the stem of terminal shoots.
Palatability
Highly palatable as maturing and dry, lower palatability when young and green.
Production potential
3 t dry matter/ha, liveweight gain of 0.6 kg/hd/day for 10 months of the year in a mixed grass pasture, 100 kg beef/ha/year.
Livestock disorders/toxicity
None known.
Cultivars
| Cultivar | Seed source/Information |
Primar (early seeder in first year) | Southedge Seeds, Illing Pastures, Rural Agents, Heritage Seeds, (Pasture seed companies can source seed). |
| Unica | Southedge Seeds, Illing Pastures, Rural Agents, Heritage Seeds, (Pasture seed companies can source seed). |
Denotes that this variety is protected by Plant Breeder's Rights Australia
Further information
Edye, L.A. and Maass, Brigitte L. (1997) Recent advances in studies of anthracnose of Stylosanthes. I. The biogeography of Stylosanthes hamata, S. scabra and "Stylosanthes seabrana ". Tropical Grasslands, 31, 417-423.
Edye, L. A., Hall, T. J., Clem, R. L., Graham, T. W.G., Messer, W. B., and Rebgetz, R. H. (1998):. Sward evaluation of eleven Stylosanthes seabrana accessions and cv. Seca in five sub-tropical environments. Tropical Grasslands 32: 243-251.
Maass, B.L. and 't Mannetje, L. (2002) Stylosanthes seabrana (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae), a new species from Bahia, Brazil. Novon, 12, 497-500.
Hall, T.J. and Glatzle, A (2004) Cattle production from Stylosanthes pastures. In Chakraborty, S. (ed.) High yielding anthracnose-resistant Stylosanthes for agricultural systems. ACIAR Monograph No. 111.
Pengelly, B.C., Clem, R.L. and Whitbread, A.M. (2004) The role of Stylosanthes spp. in mixed crop-livestock systems in Africa and Australia. In Chakraborty, S. (ed.) High yielding anthracnose-resistant Stylosanthes for agricultural systems. ACIAR Monograph No. 111.
Acknowledgements
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Author and date
Trevor J. Hall
2 December 2008
