Macrotyloma axillare (E. Mey.) Verde.

Dolichos axillaris E. Meyer.; Clitoria vividiflora Boulton.

Archer axillaris (Australia).

A trailing and twisting legume with hairy stems and bright green ovate leaflets 3 to 5 cm long and 3 cm wide, slightly pubescent but glossy. Racemes usually of three flowers in the leaf axils on short stalks. Flowers greenish yellow, 1.2 to 1.5 cm long. Pods slightly curved, hairy, 3 to 5 cm long and 6 mm wide, seven- to eight-seeded. Seeds mottled light and dark (Davies and Hutton, 1970).

Widespread in tropical Africa, reaching Natal in the south, also in Madagascar and Sri Lanka (Hutchinson and Dalziel, 1954).

Short-lived summer perennial which grows early in the spring before most other summer legumes.

It requires more than 1 000 mm and is tolerant of high rainfall in Panama up to 3 000 mm.

Quite good; produced well on alluvial and basalt soils in the dry season in north Queensland, Australia (Downes, 1967). Has a very strong root system. Farinas (1966) reported it to be drought tolerant in the Philippines.

Has no tolerance to waterlogging (Farinas, 1966).

Was a wide tolerance, from sands to clays­as long as they are well drained. It requires a pH in excess of 5.5. Is fairly tolerant of salinity.

A promiscuous species; nodulates with native rhizobia. It is an advantage to inoculate with the cowpea strain, the Australian one being CB 756 (Norris, 1967).

Spreads quite well naturally (Downes, 1967). Some seed passes undigested through the animal and will germinate in dung pats.

Prefers a good seed bed, but will establish on roughly prepared areas.

Drill or broadcast the seed. Farinas (1966) states that it will grow from cuttings. It has been established in pangola and Brachiaria grass swards, but is soon beaten by grazing and plant competition.

About 120 000. Percentage of hard seeds is low.

Not required to break dormancy. Inoculation is not required, but preferable. Pelleting necessary only to protect rhizobia; pellet with rock phosphate (Norris, 1967). Insect and disease control is not necessary.

It responds to phosphorus. Tutt and Luck (1969) at Cooroy, in coastal Queensland, fertilized it on establishment with 370 kg./ha molybdenized superphosphate (0.06 percent Mo), with a similar dressing a little later to encourage it to smother Eupatorium. Normally the annual maintenance fertilizer would be 120 to 250 kg./ha superphosphate. Nitrogen at 100 kg./ha suppressed growth (Parbery, 1967a).

It grows well with Setaria, Paspalum and Panicum spp. and with Chloris gayana. Also combines well with Desmodium spp., Glycine and siratro (Luck and Douglas, 1966).

Tolerates- 2,4-DE as a post-emergent spray at rates of up to 2.5 kg./ha active ingredient.

It has a fairly strong seedling. It is a vigorous, summer-growing plant.

It appears to fix ample nitrogen.

Moderate for grazing and trampling (Farinas, 1966) .

Tutt and Luck (1969), using it to smother Eupatorium in winter and early spring (June-September), grazed it from September to mid-February and conserved it for the former period.
Normally, the plant should be grazed lightly until it becomes established. If protected while seeding, seed will shatter and later germinate to thicken the sward.
Rotational grazing to a height of 15 cm will maintain its productivity.

Recovers well from the passage of fire (Downes, 1966).

Self-fertile. Chromosome number 2n = 20.

In the Kimberley area of northern Australia, Parbery (1967a) obtained 15 509 kg. DM/ha without added nitrogen and 11 260 kg./ha with 100 kg./ha of added nitrogen on Cunnunurra clay under irrigation.

No record of hay making has been found, but if care is taken to preserve the leaf, it should make good hay. No record of silage being made has been found in the literature.

Fairly good in frost-free areas, as leaf will remain on the plant (Downes, 1966); it is useful for winter feeding, as it is more palatable at maturity.

Chemical analyses and digestibility: it contains 11.9 percent crude protein in full growth, declining to 6.2 percent when seeding (Parbery, 1967a). Palatability: many reports claim that M. axillare is not initially palatable (Snook, personal communication), but that when cattle become used to it they find it very palatable (Luck and Douglas, 1966).

Non toxic, but its bitter taste tends to deter stock. They become used to it as it matures.

Pods are set just above ground level, which makes seed harvesting difficult. The seed pods ripen on the stem. If cut and put on a tarpaulin or a concrete floor, the stems take up to a month to dry.

Seed production is poor because of sparse flowering. Davies and Hutton (1970) give seed yields of 200 to 560 kg./ha, but 100 to 150 kg./ha is more common.

There is only one cultivar, cv. Archer, registered in Australia.

It is attacked by little-leaf, but in the wet areas of Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama it is remarkably free from diseases and pests, much more so than desmodium and siratro.

Drought and disease resistance and its vigorous growth in summer. Valuable grazing in early winter and early spring.

It is not very resistant and there is difficulty in seed production.

It has not been tested in grazing trials as yet, but its drought resistance and ability to smother weedy species are well known. Chatterjee and Singh (1966) have found it promising at the Agricultural Research Institute at Ranchi, India, and it has also shown preliminary promise in Ghana, Guatemala and Panama.

Luck (1965a).

Grows very well with tall-growing grasses.

Excellent. Tutt and Luck (1969) found that it successfully controlled the shrubby Eupatorium in south-east coastal Queensland if allowed to grow vigorously from June to September.

It suffers little from pests, probably because of a little astringency. It has some tolerance to the Amnemus weevil.

It is very heat-tolerant and has a high degree of cold tolerance (Luck and Douglas, 1966). It is susceptible to frost but will recover quickly and well (Downes, 1966).

Probably about 25°N and S. Grows from sea level to 1 230 m in Panama.

Minimum of 60 percent germination, a maximum of 10 percent hard seed, and 97.5 percent purity in Queensland. It is germinated under cover at 25°C after cutting the seed coat (Prodonoff, 1968).

Sow in late spring to summer, at 1 to 2 kg./ha as a pure stand, 0.5 to 1 kg. in mixtures, at a depth of 1 to 2.5 cm, lightly covered.