Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

• Deep-rooted, highly-palatable legume with high nutrition content, good for improving soil fertility and erosion control.
• Prefers deep, fertile, well-drained soil high in calcium.

Clover, Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum)

• Quick-establishing legume used for erosion control, weed suppression, and improving soil nutrient content. Outstanding nitrogen source. Attracts bee pollinators.
• Among clovers, this variety as particularly good performance in wet, poorly-drained soils. Prefers fertile, medium-to-heavy textured soils of mildly acidic to neutral pH.

Clover, Red (Trifolium pratense)

• Quick-growing clover used primarily for hay, pasture, silage, and soil improvement.
• Prefers well-drained, loamy soil, but it will grow on soil that is not as well-drained. 

Clover, White (Trifolium repens)

• Quick-growing and establishing crop with high production, palatability, and nutritional quality for animal grazing. Also recommended for use in plantation and orchard cropping systems, including macadamia nut and coffee, in vineyards, and as a living mulch in vegetable cropping systems. Excellent for attracting beneficial insects, for reduced- or non-chemical pest management, for erosion control, weed suppression, and as a source of organic nitrogen.
• Tolerant of low fertility soil, and fairly shade tolerant. Does well at higher elevations; grows year-round in Hawaii at 1,500 – 7,000 feet.

Cow Peas (Vigna unguiculata)

• Used primarily for forage and hay production, and as a companion crop in orchards and vineyards. Good source of biomass and nitrogen, erosion control, and weed suppression. Attracts beneficial insects.
• Tolerant of low fertility soils, heat, drought, and shade. Prefers acidic soil. Resistant to root-knot nematodes.

Lablab (Lablab purpureus)

• Primarily used for fodder, hay, silage, and as a cover crop for erosion control and weed suppression. Also recommended in Hawaii for green manure, nitrogen fixation, and vegetable crops. Use in rotation with annual crops including vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, annual ornamentals, and root crops such as dryland taro.
• Adapted to a wide range of soil types, and tolerant of low fertility and acidic soil. Tolerant of drought once established.

Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata)

• Used in specific settings for forage, erosion control, cover and food for wildlife. Can serve as part of a complete parasite management strategy by reducing barber pole worm loads in small ruminants such as sheep and goats.
• Tolerant of low fertility, acidic soil, and drought.

Sunn Hemp (Crotolaria juncea)

• Quick-growing, no-to-low maintenance, nitrogen-fixing legume that reduces soil erosion and can serve as a windbreak. Suppresses root-knot nematodes and weed growth, and significantly increases tomato yield. Non-toxic to animals (unlike other Crotalaria species, which contain toxic alkaloids). Use in annual production systems at lower elevations, including vegetables, herbs, cut flowers and ornamentals, and dryland taro.
• Tolerant of drought.

Vetch, Hairy (Vicia villosa)

• Valuable in no-till rotations, especially in regions less favorable to for clover and pea cultivation. May be used in orchards and vineyards. Known for its ability to fix large quantities of nitrogen. Grown for hay, pasture, silage, or as interim cover on disturbed soil. Provides a heavy mulch that aids in soil and water conservation.
• Prefers fertile, loamy, wetter soil.