Sainfoin ( Onobrychis vicifolia) DSC_2449
BIVG evening visit to Totternhoe 17/6/2015 SP978219
Onobrychis viciifolia – SAINFOIN
Sainfoin is easily identified as it is our only member of the pea family with a stalked spike of bright pink flowers. Our seed was collected from undisturbed chalk downland on Salisbury plain and is probably native and is certainly smaller, less erect and with duller pink flowers than the fodder varieties commonly sown until Victorian times. Flowering occurs from June to August and pollination is mainly by bumble bees.
Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is an erect, perennial herbaceous legume. It can reach up to a height of 80 cm. Stems arise from basal buds on a branched root stock. Roots are deep tap-roots. Leaves are pinnate, bearing 5-6 pairs of obovate leaflets. Melliferous pink (seldom white) flowers are borne in erect conical racemes. Sainfoin flowers twice a year in spring and autumn. Flowering starts with the lower flowers and moves up the stem. Fruits are single seeded pods that bear spikes and can cling to the fur of animals and thus propagate the species.
Sainfoin is grown for pasture, hay or silage since it is very palatable to livestock. However, since sainfoin cannot withstand heavy or continuous grazing it should be managed as follows: a first growth in spring is devoted to hay or silage, and the re-growth at the beginning of autumn can be grazed (FAO, 2009). It can yield 1 t/ha during the first year after seedling to 8 t/ha during the second year (Ecocrop, 2009), and up to 7 to 15 t of dry matter/ha/year thereafter (FAO, 2009). As the nutritive value of sainfoin decreases with maturity, the cutting stage must be carefully chosen in order to give best quality feed and ensure as much dry matter as possible (Bal et al., 2006). Sainfoin can also be profitably mixed with grasses (timothy, fescue, wheat) or with other legumes (alfalfa, white clover) to make hay or silage (FAO, 2009; Wang et al., 2007).
Distribution
Sainfoin originates from Turkey, Iran and Europe. It was first cultivated in northern France (Delgado Munoz, 2008) and in the United Kingdom (Koivisto et al., 2001). It is now widespread in warm-temperate Europe (as far as Sweden), Asia, Mediterranean countries and western North America. It thrives well in warm-temperate conditions in regions where annual rainfall is above 330 mm. It is tolerant to drought and cold if nitrogen reserves are sufficient. It can be profitably irrigated.
Environmental impact
As a nitrogen-fixing legume, sainfoin is used both as green manure and a cover-crop. In abandoned areas and hill slopes, where erosion may be a problem, sainfoin seedlings may prevent desertification and erosion, and maintain soil fertility. Its melliferous flowers attract bees and birds and enhance biodiversity.
The high tannin concentration of sainfoin prevents bloating in ruminants, and reduces methane and ammonia production. It is also beneficial to include sainfoin in grass pasture as it lowers the N fertilizer requirements of the grass and thus the N intake and subsequent urinary N output of cattle (Waghorn, 2008).
Sainfoin ( Onobrychis vicifolia) DSC_2449
BIVG evening visit to Totternhoe 17/6/2015 SP978219
Onobrychis viciifolia – SAINFOIN
Sainfoin is easily identified as it is our only member of the pea family with a stalked spike of bright pink flowers. Our seed was collected from undisturbed chalk downland on Salisbury plain and is probably native and is certainly smaller, less erect and with duller pink flowers than the fodder varieties commonly sown until Victorian times. Flowering occurs from June to August and pollination is mainly by bumble bees.
Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is an erect, perennial herbaceous legume. It can reach up to a height of 80 cm. Stems arise from basal buds on a branched root stock. Roots are deep tap-roots. Leaves are pinnate, bearing 5-6 pairs of obovate leaflets. Melliferous pink (seldom white) flowers are borne in erect conical racemes. Sainfoin flowers twice a year in spring and autumn. Flowering starts with the lower flowers and moves up the stem. Fruits are single seeded pods that bear spikes and can cling to the fur of animals and thus propagate the species.
Sainfoin is grown for pasture, hay or silage since it is very palatable to livestock. However, since sainfoin cannot withstand heavy or continuous grazing it should be managed as follows: a first growth in spring is devoted to hay or silage, and the re-growth at the beginning of autumn can be grazed (FAO, 2009). It can yield 1 t/ha during the first year after seedling to 8 t/ha during the second year (Ecocrop, 2009), and up to 7 to 15 t of dry matter/ha/year thereafter (FAO, 2009). As the nutritive value of sainfoin decreases with maturity, the cutting stage must be carefully chosen in order to give best quality feed and ensure as much dry matter as possible (Bal et al., 2006). Sainfoin can also be profitably mixed with grasses (timothy, fescue, wheat) or with other legumes (alfalfa, white clover) to make hay or silage (FAO, 2009; Wang et al., 2007).
Distribution
Sainfoin originates from Turkey, Iran and Europe. It was first cultivated in northern France (Delgado Munoz, 2008) and in the United Kingdom (Koivisto et al., 2001). It is now widespread in warm-temperate Europe (as far as Sweden), Asia, Mediterranean countries and western North America. It thrives well in warm-temperate conditions in regions where annual rainfall is above 330 mm. It is tolerant to drought and cold if nitrogen reserves are sufficient. It can be profitably irrigated.
Environmental impact
As a nitrogen-fixing legume, sainfoin is used both as green manure and a cover-crop. In abandoned areas and hill slopes, where erosion may be a problem, sainfoin seedlings may prevent desertification and erosion, and maintain soil fertility. Its melliferous flowers attract bees and birds and enhance biodiversity.
The high tannin concentration of sainfoin prevents bloating in ruminants, and reduces methane and ammonia production. It is also beneficial to include sainfoin in grass pasture as it lowers the N fertilizer requirements of the grass and thus the N intake and subsequent urinary N output of cattle (Waghorn, 2008).