Olympic
1. Olympic was developed through three cycles of recurrent selection for anthracnose resistance. Clones were selected from northern hardy types (predominately Titan, Weevlchek and Vernal) Flemish types (predominately Anchor, Tempo and Saranac) and central types (predominately Kanza, Dawson and Cody).
2. Olympic was tested in Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Louisiana, New York, and South Carolina. It is adapted to the central midwest and middle Atlantic states. It is intended for use as hay, greenchop and dehydration.
3. The flower color is predominately varying shades of purple to light blue with about 14% variegated. Growth habit is upright. Olympic has resistance to bacterial wilt and moderate resistance to anthracnose. It is susceptible to Phytophthora root rot. Its reaction to the spotted alfalfa aphid, the pea aphid and stem nematode has not been adequately determined.
4. Seed increase is on a three generation basis with breeder, foundation and certified classes. Breeder seed was produced by interpollinating the three germplasm groups separately then mixing resulting seed in the proportion 30% hardy, 37% Flemish, 33% central type.
5. Spring 1977.
6. Plant Variety Protection has been applied for.