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In a replicated study conducted from 1990 to 1992, cover crops and a control (resident vegetation) were evaluated in an organic wine-grape vineyard (cv. ‘Chardonnay’), located at a valley floor site in Hopland, Mendocino County, California. The purpose was to assess plant phenology, stature, biomass production, competitiveness with resident vegetation, and second-year stand regeneration or persistence in an unfilled vineyard. Legumes (Fabaceae) evaluated included nine annual and two perennial types of clover (Trifolium spp.), bell bean and three other types of Vicia, two types of coolseason annual medic (Medicago spp.), field pea (Pisum sativum ssp. arvense), a mixture of biennial sweetclovers (Melilotus alba and M. officinalis), broadleaf birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus comiculatus). There were six types of cool-season annual grasses (Poaceae) including three cereal grains. Native Californian perennial grasses included one rhizomatous and five bunch types. The sole representative of Brassicaceae was bl...