Development of native Lespedeza germplasm for commercial release. Springer, Tim^*,1, McGraw, Robert², Aiken, Glen³, ¹ USDA-ARS-SPRRS, Woodward, OK² University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO³ USDA-ARS-FAPRU, Lexington, KY

ABSTRACT- Roundhead lespedeza (Lespedeza capitata Michx.) is a deep-rooted, perennial legume native to the eastern and central USA and is the most widely distributed of the 11 Lespedeza species native to North America. Roundhead lespedeza has many uses and is relatively common on remnant upland prairies throughout the Midwest. Like many other lespedeza species, roundhead lespedeza contains condensed tannins that are associated with reduced degradation of protein and dry matter digestibility by ruminant animals. Our primary goal is to develop a roundhead lespedeza cultivar or germplasm line with reduced tannin concentrations. From 39 roundhead lespedeza accessions grown in two environments (Arkansas and Missouri) eight were identified that contained relatively low concentrations of condensed tannin and have been developed into a synthetic line that is currently being evaluated over a larger geographic area (Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma). The agronomic potential of the eight accessions has yet to be determined, however, through breeding they could be used to produce cultivars with low tannin characteristics. The estimate of broad sense heritability as it applies to mass selection for this population of 39 plant accessions for tannin concentrations of leaves at flowering was 0.60. Hence, selection for low tannin content in roundhead lespedeza is possible. In addition, "Kanoka", the only commercially available variety of roundhead lespedeza, averages 14.3% condensed tannin on a dry weight basis compared to 7.9% for our synthetic line.

KEY WORDS: germplasm, Lespedeza capitata, tannin