In this study 130 accessions of Centrosema brasilianum of CIAT forages collection were evaluated in February 1983. The accessions had originally been collected in semi-dry, sub- humid and humid tropics, mainly in Brazil and Venezuela. The preliminary evaluation trial was conducted at CIAT's experimental station in Santander de Quilichao, Cauca, Colombia, located at 3°06'N and 76°31'W and 990 m above sea level. Is characterized by deep Ultisol soils, well drained, very acid pH (4.1) with high aluminum saturation (89%) and high manganese content (110 ppm), low available phosphorus (2.5 ppm Bray II) and high organic matter (6%). Mean annual precipitation is 1,845 mm and follows a bimodal pattern (March-June and September-December). The average annual temperature is 24.8°C, with an average minimum of 18.3°C and an average maximum of 29.4°C. One of the main parameters measured was dry matter (DM) by calculating the biomass yield under the experimental conditions and this measure was determined in five cuttings taken at 3-month intervals between them. The first harvest was in August 1983 after the initiation of flowering of all accession and the fifth cut was in August 1984. Cuts were made with shears at a height of 5 cm above the soil surface and samples were taken within a 1.0 x 0.5 m frame. Statistics analysis consisted of classifying the 130 accessions into distinct DM yield clusters by performing a minimum variance hierarchical cluster analysis.

Cluster 1: 491, 494, 5055, 5058, 5237, 5299, 5368, 5370, 5470, 5507, 5510, 5517, 5518, 5527, 5543, 5649, 5668, 5682, 5690, 5709, 5712, 5795, 5910, 5181, 5184, 5491, 5503, 5535, 5539, 5701, 5706

Cluster 2: 5430, 5488, 5512, 5181, 5491, 5535, 5701, 5667, 5184, 5503, 5539, 5706, 5670, 5679, 5680, 5688, 5689, 5715

Cluster 3: 5173, 5178, 5185, 5211, 5223, 5369, 5425, 5428, 5469, 5520, 5529, 5530, 5531, 5588, 5810, 5882

Cluster 4: 5420, 5423

Cluster 5: 5180, 5305, 5366, 5367, 5372, 5471, 5481, 5492, 5555, 5558, 5583, 5686, 5692, 5699, 5700, 5703, 5817, 5818, 5819, 5886, 5710, 5812, 5816

Cluster 6: 5222, 5224, 5244, 5365, 5426, 5472, 5474, 5475, 5486, 5489, 5508, 5523, 5534, 5541, 5550, 5552, 5824, 5884, 5553, 5725, 582

Cluster 7: 5234, 5247, 5493, 5511, 5538, 5556, 5822, 5828.

Cluster 8: 5473, 5509, 5525, 5656, 5826

Cluster 9: 5476, 5696, 5705, 5729, 5825, 5891

Cluster 10: 5487, 5490, 5514, 5657, 5671, 5698, 5821, 5827