I will take a stab at this from what I remember off the top of my head, as I cannot seem to locate the document where I first saw this information, forgive me, as it has been a few years since I last looked at it.
White clovers come in 3 "sizes". This is primarily a description of overall plant height and leaf size.
Small - clovers such as Dutch white clover falls in this category along with other lower growing white clovers.
Intermediate - Durana clover is an improved selection that falls in the intermediate category. For those that think Durana was completely "bred", it was not, it is simply a very drought tolerant native ecotype that was collected from natural pasture settings in GA that had survived many years of heavy grazing and drought. Only then was it put in a "greenhouse setting" and the parent plants were crossed with some virus resistant large(ladino) types and the result was Patriot white clover.
Patriot falls somewhere in between Intermediate and Large(Ladino), as it is a cross breed. Crusade falls into the Intermediate category as well, and it is also a cross breed(between Haifa white clover and some disease resistant ecotypes). Some of the "New Zealand" white clovers fall in here as well.
Large(Ladino) - Naturalized, large leaved, tall stemmed white clovers. "Ladino" is pretty much a generic name for this growth type, see VNS Ladino. Jumbo Ladino is a selection of native Ladino types that was chosen for it's larger leaf size and taller growth habit than even the native Ladino types, but don't get too excited, we are talking maybe 10%-15% larger leaves. It also has some resistance to common clover diseases. Jumbo II Ladino is a selection of Jumbo Ladino plants that was chosen for it's higher stolon density and ability to spread more readily than regular Jumbo Ladino, again, don't get too excited as the stolon density is really only 10% to 20% higher than standard Jumbo Ladino.
Alice white clover falls into this category(Large) and may be the "height king" of them all. Leaf size is as large as the other types and the stems are typically taller than any of the ones labeled as "Ladino".
I believe Kopu(and Kopu II) falls somewhere in here as well.
Kura clover is it's own animal and even though it's flowers are mostly white, it is not a true "white" clover. I can last just about forever as it is very hardy and persistent. Total PIA to get established though.
There are a lot of "trade names" like the "Orion XL" above. They may be just that, a company "trade name" marketing ploy, or they may have been selected from trials for a specific trait. One would have to research each type in depth to distinguish that fact. True agricultural field trials, however boring to read, will give you the true worth of these "named" varieties. If they are really better than their predecessors, it will show up in ultimate yields over multiple year studies. What does any of that yield information mean to the average foodplotter, not much...............but it might save a guy some money when looking at more expensive options of clover depending on what your ultimate use will be.
If I ever hunt down the document where I found the info on the "differences" in the Ladino types, I will post it in this thread for future reference.
You really want to be confusedo_O:confused:............lets talk alfalfa!!!:eek:
