The birdsfoot trefoil cv. São Gabriel is an important winter-spring growing legume in the Southern Brazil, which main limitation is the low persistence under grazing. The objective of this work was to evaluate eight populations of this cultivar, selected under grazing or cut, comparing with one rhizomatous genotype (cv. ARS-2620) and a cultivar from Uruguay without rhizomes (cv. Trueno), with the purpose to evaluate the morphological variability and characters linked to grazing tolerance. Two assays were conducted in the greenhouse with plants grown in pots until the full flowering stage. It was observed morphological variability in the germplasm, with variation in the leaf, stem and crown morphology as well as in growth habit. Only in the cv. ARS-2620 was observed typical rhizomes, but all the genotypes showed subterraneous stems. The cv. ARS-2620 was susceptible to mites and two populations showed symptoms of anthracnose (Colletotrichum sp.). The morphophysiological variability of the cv. São Gabriel populations can be used in a birdsfoot trefoil breeding programs.
growth habit; morphology; rhizomes
