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AGR 4501 PASTURE MANAGEMENT SEMESTER 2 2015/2016 Practical 1: 5 March 2016 Morphology of Grasses and Legumes Objective: To identify morphological characteristics of the Poaceae (Grass) and the Leguminoseae (legume) plant families. These are the plant families to which pastures and forages belong to. Poaceae: This is the plant family of high economic importance as the major foods such as rice, maize, wheat, barley, sugar-cane and pasture grasses are members of this family. They are monocotyledonous, herbaceous and low growing. They have fibrous roots and the leaves are comprised of leaf sheath and leaf blade. They spread by producing tillers, stolons or rhizomes. The reproductive organs are borne in an inflorescence and are comprised of spikelets with one or more florets. Leguminoseae: Plants in this family have the ability of fixing nitrogen from the air because of the symbiotic association with rhizobium that lives in root nodules. As such the legumes is an important source of plant protein. The flowers are colourful and the seeds are borne in a pod or legume. The leaves are usually compound, bearing a number of leaflets. They are dicotyledonous and have a tap-root system. Practical: a) You have three grass specimens: Common Name Botanical name Growth habit Guinea grass: Rumput kuda Panicum maximum Upright, tufted Cow grass; Rumput kerbau Paspalum conjugatum stoloniferous Lalang Imperata cylindrica rhizomatous Make a sketch of each of the specimen to show the various plant parts. All figures must show the following labels: i. ii. iii. iv. leaf blade leaf sheath stem nodes 1 v. vi. vii. viii. ix. inflorescence fibrous roots tillers stolons (for cow grass only) rhizomes (for lalang only) b) You have 2 legume specimens: Common Name Botanical name Growth habit Calapo Calapogonimum mucunoides Gliricidia sepium Climbing, trailing Gliricidia tree Make a sketch of each of the specimen to show the various plant parts. All figures must show the following labels: i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. leaflets leaf petiole stipule tap root branch roots nodules (where present) pods c) Make a table and list the differences you observed between the morphology of grasses and legumes. Plant parts Leaf Grasses Legumes stem roots flowers 2