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Alfalfa

For other uses, see Alfalfa (disambiguation).

Alfalfa
Medicago sativa[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Medicago
Section: M. sect. Medicago
Species:
M. sativa
Binomial name
Medicago sativa
Subspecies
  • M. sativa subsp. ambigua (Trautv.) Tutin
  • M. sativa subsp. microcarpa Urban
  • M. sativa subsp. sativa
  • M. sativa subsp. varia (T. Martyn) Arcang.
Synonyms[3]
List
    • Medica sativa Lam.
    • Medicago afganica (Bordere) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago beipinensis Vassilcz.
    • Medicago coerulea Ledeb. [Spelling variant]
    • Medicago grandiflora (Grossh.) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago hemicycla Grossh.
    • Medicago ladak Vassilcz.
    • Medicago lavrenkoi Vassilcz.
    • Medicago media Pers.
    • Medicago mesopotamica Vassilcz.
    • Medicago ochroleuca Kult.
    • Medicago orientalis Vassilcz.
    • Medicago polia (Brand) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago praesativa Sinskaya
    • Medicago rivularis Vassilcz.
    • Medicago sogdiana (Brand) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago subdicycla (Trautv.) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago sylvestris Fr.
    • Medicago tianschanica Vassilcz.
    • Medicago tibetana (Alef.) Vassilcz.
    • Medicago trautvetteri Sumnev.
    • Medicago varia Martyn
    • Trigonella upendrae H.J.Chowdhery & R.R.Rao

Alfalfa (/ælˈfælfə/) (Medicago sativa), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as well as a green manure and cover crop. The name alfalfa is used in North America. The name lucerne is more commonly used in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The plant superficially resembles clover (a cousin in the same family), especially while young, when trifoliate leaves comprising round leaflets predominate. Later in maturity, leaflets are elongated. It has clusters of small purple flowers followed by fruits spiralled in two to three turns containing 10–20 seeds. Alfalfa is native to warmer temperate climates. It has been cultivated as livestock fodder since at least the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

  1. ^ illustration from Amédée Masclef - Atlas des plantes de France. 1891
  2. ^ "Medicago sativa – ILDIS LegumeWeb". ildis.org. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  3. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2014.

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