Fibre
There was also substantial variation in NDF values both within- and between-species (Fig. 3). The largest absolute NDF values were recorded from the grasses; Bouteloua gracilis at 90%, Aristida longiseta at 88% and Setaria macrostachya at 86%. The maximum value recorded from any other functional group related to the foliage of two trees; Bauhinia cheilantha at 68% and Mimosa caesapiniifolia at 68%. NDF for tree foliage, herbs and legumes were clustered at the lower end of the range of values. The minimum values of NDF were recorded from the herbaceous legume, Psophocarpus scandens at 23%, the grass, Dactylis glomerata at 27% and the herb, Sanguisorba minor at 30%. The largest ranges of NDF values that were recorded were from the grasses; Dactylis glomerata (27–71%), Phleum pratense (36–68%), Alopecurus pratensis (39–70%) and Lolium perenne (34–62%).
Fig. 3
Ascending median neutral detergent fibre content for 113 forage plant species. Box shading represents functional group. Values are percent of dry plant material (% DM)
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The largest ADF values were also measured from the grasses; Hyparrhenia hirta at 60% and Enteropogon macrostachus at 57%, whilst the foliage of the tree, Mimosa caesapiniifolia, was also recorded at 55%. High ADF values were rarer than high NDF and only 3% of ADF values in the database were greater than 50%. The lowest ADF values were measured from the grasses, Phleum pratense, Agropyron riparium, Dactylis glomerata, Festuca arundinacea and Lolium multiflorum, with values of 13, 16, 16, 16, and 2%, respectively. The largest ranges of values were also measured from grasses; Lolium multiflorum (2–35%), Bromus inermis (18–46%), Dactylis glomerata (16–44%) and Phleum pratense (13–38%).