Register of Australian grain legume cultivars. Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet (lablab) cv. Koala

Register of Australian grain legume cultivars. Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet (lablab) cv. Koala

1995

A:PS

Koala was selected from a line introduced into Australia as Q6880 from France in 1962. Three lines were selected with cream seeds and pale mauve flowers, black seeds with purple flowers and brown seeds with white flowers, respectively. Koala has cream seeds and is earlier maturing than many lablab species used in forage production. Koala is erect and has pale mauve flowers borne in terminal racemes 20-30 cm long held above the foliage. It is 50-80 cm tall at maturity. Pods are 3-6 cm long at maturity, containing 2-5 seeds with a 100-seed weight of 20-24 g. Relatively insensitive to daylength 50% flowering is generally reached in 50-70 days from a December planting. The crop may be harvested 110-160 days after sowing. Koala was selected for early maturity to enable seed set before the onset of frost in northern NSW and southern Queensland. Yields of Koala averaged 1.1 t/ha in trials in northern NSW from 1991-92 to 1993-94. Protein content of seeds grown at 5 sites in 1992-93 ranged from 19.6 to 28.3%.

v.35(4):559, AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE

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