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Alysicarpus vaginalis
Also called Alyce Clover, Buffalo Clover, Cistern Pea Nut, Sistern Pea Nut, Buffalo Bur, One Leaf Clover
In Singapore: White Moneywort, 链荚豆 (Native to Singapore, Least Concern)
Alysicarpus vaginalis is a short-lived or perennial legume, grown as livestock forage, erosion-control cover and green manure, and a weed in places. It does best in warm, seasonally dry tropical and warm temperate climates.
Alysicarpus vaginalis is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to parts of Africa and Asia, and it has been introduced to other continents, such as Australia and the Americas. It is cultivated as a fodder for livestock, for erosion control, and as a green manure. Common names include alyce clover (a name it shares with Alysicarpus rugosus), buffalo clover, buffalo-bur, one-leaf clover, and white moneywort.
This plant is grown in pastures as forage for livestock and is sometimes cut for hay. Cattle and horses find it palatable, and sheep found it about as palatable as alfalfa in one trial. It is very tolerant of grazing and mowing.
It is most successful in the tropics, but it also grows well in warmer temperate regions. It loses leaves in light frosts and is killed by heavy frosts, but it grows back when winter ends. It tolerates shade and can be grown in the cover of shrubs. It grows in many types of soils, from sands to clays. It does not tolerate high soil salinity.
Good companion plants include grasses such as St. Augustine grass (Stenotaphrum secundatum), hurricane grass (Bothriochloa pertusa), and Nadi blue grass (Dichanthium caricosum). It can be grown with other legumes, such as Spanish clover (Desmodium heterophyllum) and showy pigeon pea (Cajanus scarabaeoides).
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alysicarpus vaginalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
