Weed control in organic conservative vegetable systems is extremely challenging and the use of legume permanent living mulches (pLM) presents an interesting opportunity. The successful use of pLM is largely determined by the choice of appropriate legumes which are able to combine adequate weed control with a marginal competitive effect on the cash crop(s). However, the availability of legumes for such systems is limited and their characterization based on growth traits can support the selection of suitable legumes for conservation organic vegetable systems. The current study investigated weed control capacity and variability in morphological and phenological traits relevant in inter-plant competition among a range of 11 commercial cultivars of legumes and seven ecotypes of Medicago polymorpha (bur medic). For commercial cultivars, Lotus corniculatus (bird’s-foot trefoil) and Trifolium repens (white clover) showed the best weed control capacity, while Trifolium subterraneum (subterranean clover) and Medicago polymopha had more suitable characteristics for a rapid and complete establishment of the pLM. Overall, legume mulches appear more effective in dicotyledonous than in monocotyledonous weed control. Trifolium subterraneum cv. Antas and T. repens cv. Haifa were identified as the potentially most suitable legumes for use as pLM and their use in mixtures could be a promising solution. In addition, the ecotypes of Medicago polymorpha Manciano and Talamone proved to be well adapted for local environmental conditions and they showed a better weed suppression than the commercial cultivars of Medicago polymorpha.

中文翻译：

---

豆科植物生态型和商业品种在用作地中海蔬菜系统中永久性覆盖物的性能和潜在适用性上有所不同

有机保守性蔬菜系统中的杂草控制极具挑战性，使用豆类永久性生活覆盖物（pLM）提供了一个有趣的机会。pLM的成功使用很大程度上取决于选择合适的豆科植物，这些豆科植物能够将适当的杂草控制与对经济作物的边际竞争效应结合起来。然而，用于这种系统的豆类的可用性是有限的，并且基于生长特性的表征可以支持选择用于保护有机蔬菜系统的合适的豆类。本研究调查了11种豆科植物商业品种和7种紫花苜蓿生态型之间与植物间竞争相关的形态和物候性状的杂草控制能力和变异性（bur军医）。对于商业品种，百脉根（百脉根）和三叶草（白三叶草）表现最好的杂草控制能力，而车轴subterraneum（三叶）和苜蓿polymopha有一个快速和完整的建立PLM的更适合的特性。总体而言，豆科植物覆盖物在单子叶杂草控制中似乎比单子叶杂草更有效。三叶草subterraneum品种。Antas和T. repens简历。海法被认为是可能最适合用作pLM的豆类，它们在混合物中的使用可能是一个有前途的解决方案。此外，紫花苜蓿的生态型曼恰诺（Manciano）和塔拉莫（Talamone）被证明非常适合当地的环境条件，它们的杂草抑制作用比紫花苜蓿的商业品种更好。