Reid, Robin S.

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• \ .. Serie SE-3-81 27 February 1981 Resume COlECClON HISTORICA Legume Collec t ing in Mexico Robert Reid , A total of 18 months was spent in Mexico wlth the prime objective to collect potenti al pasture l eg umes i n all major eco logi cal zones . Special emphasis was placed on t he general Centno~ema , V~manthu6, V~mocUum, Leuc.aena. , MacJtop-UUum and S;ty.e.o~anth~ ; with the aim of fi nding types t hat are more drought to lerant and /or more cold tol erant . CeJtÓLo~ema - collections were made of seven s.pecies and from an Australian poi nt of view the most promising appea r to be C. Óc.hiedeaJUlln and C. óc.ho~ . The former was collec ted in t he mountains of Oaxaca (16°N) at an altitude of 2000 m. The latter was common on the alkaline clay plains of Central Veracruz growing i n the 800 mm rainfall zone . V~manthu6 - a total of eight species is represented in the cOll ect ion, of which seven are new to agriculture . Types of V. c.o.e.v~~ and V. ~ubulatuh are particularly interesting as they occur on crack ing clay soils under a rainfall regime of 150-250 mm. V~mocUum - a number of new species were collected. From Chihuahua perennial spec ies which have the ability to survive very cold frosty winters including annual snow, and from the mountai ns of Central nexico perennial creeping types growing at 2700 m. Leuc.aena. - depending upon whi ch system of classification is used, sorne 10 to 15 species of this genus occur in Mex ico. The coll ect ion ... . • 1 I " 5[-3-81 -2-includes representatives of all; plus one newly discovered species. All accessions are currently being screened in Australia for mimosine content and while sorne are very low in mimosine, it is unfortunate that all the L. ieucocephata accessions so far examined fall within the range of 3-5% mimosine. Nevertheless sorne species such as L. 4etu6a and L. c~p~ata (both low mimosine types) may well have a place in the high altitude tropics or the cold winter dry subtropics in other parts of the world. MaC40p~ - owing to the outstanding success of M. ~Opu4puAewn cv. Siratro in both Australia and other countries, and attempt was made to widen the genetic diversity currently available in this species. Accessions were collected in Chihuahua from low rainfall areas (400 mm), characterized by very cold winters, and the hot desert of Sonora with annual rainfall of 200-250 mm. Another species M. hete40phytium was also widely collected at high altitude under rainfall regimes of between 400-1000 mm . This vigorous stoloniferous, mat forming species could be of direct use in the subtropics under systems of heavy grazing. S-tyl.o~o..n;thC6 - this genus had previously been very poorly represented in herbarium collections, and the distribution in Mexico virtual1y unkno~m. While uncommon except in S. Oaxaca (S. v~co~a) and Tabasco (S. 9uiane~~), collections were obtained frorn known species. Approximately 1500 legume accessions were obtained and they offer a great deal of new material to investigators not only in Australia but throughout the tropical world. · - . .-Routes of collection in Mexico. September 1979 - December 1980 . I V> I , 

Legume collecting in Mexico

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Legume collecting in Mexico

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