GENERAL36197 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The other grass species on the test plots was a strongly rhizomatous selection of western wheatgrass that was transplanted as sprigs in 1970. Collected from a gold tailing pile in Victor, Colorado, this grass appears to be the same as the strongly rhizomatous grass growing on roadsides and mine wastes in Leadville. The transplants (each consisting of several stems and attached roots), planted on 20-in. centers, have spread to give 20 percent live cover and 80 percent total ground cover (living and dead) in 1976. Disturbed lands are usually deficient to extremely deficient in nitrogen, thus, the establishment of legumes tested was disappointing, with one exception -- ricer milkvetch. It has grown surprisingly well the past few years after initially being rated poor in stand establishment and vigor. Cicer milkvetch has short rhizomes and appeared to be spreading by this mechanism. On 4 September 1974, a few seed pods containing soft, green seed were observed. Stands of birdsfoot trefoil were poor, although a few plants have good vigor. This species reproduces only by seed, but seed production has not been noted at Climax. The initial stands of white Dutch clover were better established than the two legumes mentioned above, however, the stands have not been persistent. White clover can reproduce by stolons, and some stolons have been noted on the Climax plantings. Seeds has also been produced by some ot` the white clover plants at Climax. Yellow sweet clover was seeded in a mix along with titer milkvetch and white clover in the 1969 Climax planting. This species established good stands in 1969 and grew well in 1970 but did not set seed. Thus, this species must be regarded strictly as a biennial which will not reproduce at high elevations (3,353 m or 11,000 ft). Volunteer stands of sweet clover were common at elevations of 2,743 m or 9,000 ft and lower. Yellow sweet clover is no longer used in the Climax seed mix. 26