Margurita French Serradella

We recommend Margurita Serradella. It's hard seeded, so it builds a seed bank that carries through cropping, making it easier to switch between crop and pasture phases. About 50% of the seed softens over summer to germinate the following year. It suits acidic, infertile sands in 350mm+ rainfall.

Margurita Serradella is our direct replacement for Cadiz. It was selected from hard-seeded lines of Cadiz, so it persists and regenerates far better, with a steady hard-seed breakdown over summer. It also has a more upright habit than Cadiz, with potential for better grazing tolerance.

Yes, podded Margurita Serradella can be sown in February at about 20 kg/ha, shallow at around 10 mm, and the seed will soften by the break of the season. If you need pasture in the first year, we recommend sowing bare seed instead, as it establishes more reliably in year one.

For Margurita Serradella, our tech sheet recommends 10 to 20 kg/ha of dehulled seed as a monoculture and 4 to 8 kg/ha in a mix, while our 2026 guide lists 6 to 10 kg/ha. Talk to us about the right rate for your paddock and system.

Margurita Serradella tolerates some waterlogging but not inundation, so it suits sandy paddocks that get wet for short periods but not ones that stay under water. It's well adapted to acidic, infertile sands with pH below 7.0. For wetter ground, consider Serramax Serradella or Paradana Balansa clover.

Margurita Serradella is moderately tolerant of redlegged earth mite, blue green aphid and cowpea aphid, but it's susceptible to lucerne flea. We recommend monitoring closely at establishment and controlling lucerne flea early. Good pest control protects the seed set that drives its hard-seed persistence.

A productive legume pasture fixes nitrogen that following crops can use. Margurita Serradella's hard seediness gives longer persistence and more dry matter over an extended pasture phase, which means more nitrogen for the following crop. Inoculate with the right serradella inoculant (Group G/S) so it nodulates well.

Margurita Serradella is compatible with other legumes and ryegrass suited to similar soils and pH. We'd suggest a ryegrass like Achieve or Wimmera, plus Casbah Biserrula or a sub clover such as Dalkeith. Its upright growth habit gives stock easy access, and it's potentially more tolerant of grazing than Cadiz.

Margurita Serradella is early to medium flowering. Our tech sheet puts it at about 114 days at Perth, with a range of 103 to 125 days, while our 2026 guide lists about 107 days. Either way it's later than Fran2o, which flowers at around 90 days.

Margurita is a hard-seeded, pink-flowered French serradella with an erect habit and good early to mid spring production. Santorini is a very hard-seeded yellow serradella that holds its lower leaves, doesn't lodge, and is the toughest of our serradellas under heavy grazing. Both suit acid sands in 350mm+ rainfall.