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Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area
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Taxon: Medicago sativa L.

Genus: Medicago section: Medicago
Family: Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae) subfamily: Faboideae tribe: Trifolieae. Also placed in: Papilionaceae
Nomen number: 23676
Place of publication: Sp. pl. 2:778. 1753
Typification: View record from Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project of the Natural History Museum of London.
Name verified on: 10-Jun-1987 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 03-Oct-2008
Species priority site is: Western Regional PI Station (W6).
Accessions: 17 in National Plant Germplasm System.
  • all available ) NPGS accessions. or .
  • all available ) NPGS accessions by country.
  • Check PlantSearch database of Botanic Gardens Conservation International for possible non-NPGS germplasm.


See also subordinate taxa:


Common names:

  • alfalfa   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • bastard medic   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. ×varia]) – English   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • blue alfalfa   (Source: Evol Class Medicago ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. caerulea]
  • glandular alfalfa   (Source: Evol Class Medicago ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. glomerata]
  • lucerne   (Source: World Econ Pl ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • sand lucerne   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. ×varia]) – English   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • sickle alfalfa   (Source: F Iraq ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • sickle medic   (Source: F Iraq ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • sickle medick   (Source: BSBI ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • variegated alfalfa   (Source: Food Feed Crops US ) – English   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • variegated lucerne   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. ×varia]) – English   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • violet-flower lucerne   (Source: Aust Pl Common Names ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • yellow alfalfa   (Source: Websters Dict ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • yellow lucerne   (Source: F Iraq ) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • yellow-flower alfalfa   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – English   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • burseem   (Source: Ill L Qatar ) – Arabic
  • jatt   (Source: Ill L Qatar ) – Arabic
  • ye mu xu   (Source: F ChinaEng [as M. falcata]) – Transcribed Chinese   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • za jiao mu xu   (Source: F ChinaEng [as M. ×varia]) – Transcribed Chinese   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • zi mu xu   (Source: F ChinaEng ) – Transcribed Chinese   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • la lucerne en pelote   (Source: Evol Class Medicago ) – French   [Medicago sativa subsp. glomerata]
  • lucerne en forme de pelote   (Source: Evol Class Medicago ) – French   [Medicago sativa subsp. glomerata]
  • luzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • luzerne bigarrée   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • luzerne de Suède   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – French   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • luzerne intermédiaire   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – French   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • luzerne jaune   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – French   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • Bastardluzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • blaue Luzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • Luzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • Sandluzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – German   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • Sichelklee   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – German   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • Sichelluzerne   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – German   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • erba medica   (Source: Mult Glossary Crops ) – Italian
  • medica   (Source: Mult Glossary Crops ) – Italian
  • murasaki-umagoyashi   (Source: F JapanOhwi ) – Japanese Rōmaji   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • jajukgaejari   (Source: F Korea ) – Transcribed Korean
  • luzerna   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Portuguese   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • luzerna-de-sequeiro   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – Portuguese   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • alfafa-de-provença   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • alfafa-falciforme   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • luzerna-bastarda   (Source: D. Groth, p.c. 2005) – Portuguese (Brazil)   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • alfalfa amarilla   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – Spanish   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • alfalfa de las arenas   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • alfalfa híbrida   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish   [Medicago sativa nothosubsp. varia]
  • alfalfa sueca   (Source: Dict Rehm [as M. falcata]) – Spanish   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
  • mielga   (Source: Dict Rehm ) – Spanish   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • blålusern   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish   [Medicago sativa subsp. sativa]
  • gul-lusern   (Source: Vara kulturvaxt namn ) – Swedish   [Medicago sativa subsp. falcata]
More:

Economic importance:

More:

Distributional range:

      Native:
  • AFRICA
    Northern Africa: Algeria; Libya; Morocco; Tunisia
  • ASIA-TEMPERATE
    Western Asia: Afghanistan; Cyprus; Iran; Iraq; Israel [rare]; Jordan; Lebanon; Syria; Turkey
    Caucasus: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia
    Siberia: Russian Federation - Eastern Siberia, Western Siberia
    Middle Asia: Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan; Turkmenistan; Uzbekistan
    Mongolia: Mongolia
    Russian Far East: Russian Federation - Far East
    China: China [n.]
    Eastern Asia: Korea
  • ASIA-TROPICAL
    Indian Subcontinent: Pakistan
  • EUROPE
    Northern Europe: Denmark; Ireland; Norway; Sweden; United Kingdom
    Middle Europe: Austria; Belgium; Czechoslovakia; Germany; Hungary; Netherlands; Poland; Switzerland
    East Europe: Belarus; Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania; Moldova; Russian Federation - European part; Ukraine [incl. Krym]
    Southeastern Europe: Albania; Bulgaria; Former Yugoslavia; Greece; Italy; Romania
    Southwestern Europe: France; Portugal; Spain

      Naturalized:
  • AFRICA
    Macaronesia: Portugal - Azores
    Northern Africa: Egypt
    Southern Africa: South Africa
  • ASIA-TROPICAL
    Indian Subcontinent: India; Nepal; Sri Lanka
  • AUSTRALASIA
    Australia: Australia
    New Zealand: New Zealand
  • EUROPE
    Northern Europe: Finland
  • NORTHERN AMERICA
    United States
  • SOUTHERN AMERICA
    Brazil: Brazil [s.]
    Western South America: Ecuador; Peru
    Southern South America: Argentina; Chile; Uruguay [s.]

      Adventive:
  • NORTHERN AMERICA
    Mexico

      Cultivated:
  • widely cultivated

References:

  • 't Mannetje, L. & R. M. Jones, eds. 1992. Forages. In: Faridah Hanum, I. & L. J. G. van der Maesen, eds., Plant Resources of South-East Asia (PROSEA). 4:163.
  • Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  • Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. 2009. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin).
  • Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976–. Flora of Libya.
  • Allan, H. H. B. et al. 1961–. Flora of New Zealand.
  • Boulos, L. 1995. Flora of Egypt checklist.
  • Brako, L. & J. L. Zarucchi. 1993. Catalogue of the flowering plants and gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45.
  • Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. [poisonous].
  • Davis, P. H., ed. 1965–1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
  • Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs.
  • Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage.
  • Eriksson, O. et al. 1979. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2.
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  • Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14.
  • Gunn, C. R. et al. 1978. Classification of Medicago sativa L. using legume characters and flower colors. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1574:7.
  • Hara, H. et al. 1978–1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  • Havananda, T. et al. 2010. Relationships among diploid members of the Medicago sativa (Fabaceae) species complex based on chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Syst. Bot. 35:140–150.
  • Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
  • Inst. Bot. V. L. Komarova, Acad. Sci. URSS. 1963–. Plantae asiae centralis.
  • Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. 2008. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares.
  • Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  • International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
  • Isely, D. 1998. Native and naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii).
  • Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931–1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
  • Jørgensen, P. M. & S. León-Yánez, eds. 1999. Catalogue of the vascular plants of Ecuador. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 75.
  • Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. [poisonous].
  • Kitagawa, M. 1979. Neo-lineamenta florae Manshuricae.
  • Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934–1964. Flora SSSR.
  • Kumar, S & P. V. Sane. 2003. Legumes of South Asia: a checklist.
  • Lee, Y. N. 1997. Flora of Korea.
  • Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 95.
  • Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
  • McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2.
  • McVaugh, R. 1983–. Flora Novo-Galiciana.
  • Mouterde, P. 1966–. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
  • Mun-Chan, B. et al. 1986. A checklist of the Korean cultivated plants. Kulturpflanze 34:109.
  • Munro, D. B. Canadian poisonous plants information system (on-line resource).
  • Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970–. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  • Norton, J. et al. 2009. Illustrated checklist of the flora of Qatar.
  • Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.).
  • Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  • Pottier-Alapetite, G. 1979–1981. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones.
  • Quézel, P. & S. Santa. 1962–1963. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie.
  • Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963–. Flora iranica.
  • Silva, L. et al. 2005. Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta).
  • Small, E. et al. 1981. The taxonomic value of floral characters in tribe Trigonelleae (Leguminosae), with special reference to Medicago. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1580.
  • Small, E. 1981. A numerical analysis of major groupings in Medicago employing traditionally used characters. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1555.
  • Täckholm, V. 1974. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2.
  • Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966–. Flora of Iraq.
  • Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964–1980. Flora europaea.
  • Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994–. Flora of China (English edition).
  • Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia.
  • Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966–. Flora palaestina.
  • Zuloaga, F. O. & O. Morrone, eds. 1996. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de la República Argentina. I. Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae y Angiospermae (Monocotyledonae), II. Dicotyledonae. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 60, 74., 1999
More:

Synonyms:


Check other web resources for Medicago sativa L.:


Images or nodulation data:

More:
  • Check PlantSystematics.org for additional images
  • Google Images Images Note: Be advised that their identity may be inaccurate. Proper identification of a plant may require specialized taxonomic knowledge or comparison with properly documented herbarium material.

Abbreviations & symbols in GRIN Taxonomy
| USDA | ARS | GRIN | NPGS | New Search |
Cite as:
USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program.
Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database].
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?23676 (22 May 2013)

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