Medicago sativa L.

Medicago sativa L.

Status: Accepted
Genus: Medicago L.
Tribe: Trifolieae
References: [454][754][801][2016]

Common Names:

Alfalfa [1862] [2008] [2016] [210] [1470]
Lucerne [2086] [210] [2362] [2008] [2080] [1862]
Luzerne [2205] [2444]

Descriptors:

Habit:
- Herb
Lifespan:
- Perennial
Stems:
- Not climbing
Source(s):
- 1988(Africa)Lock JM
- 1988(Americas)Zarucchi JL
- 1988(Europe)ESFEDS
- 1990(New Zealand & Pacific)Horn P
- 1991(W Asia)Lock JM & Simpson K
- 1993 Adams BR
- 1993(Indian Ocean)Lock JM & Ireland H
- 1995(Europe)Adams BR
- 1998 Bisby FA
Scrutinised globally by taxonomic co-ordinator:
- 1991/1993 Heyn CC & Heller D
Conservation Status:
- Not Threatened

Uses:

Environmental [1862]
Food and Drink [1862]
Forage [2011] [2459] [2196] [2086] [24] [1938] [1915] [1899] [1862]
Medicine [2459]
Weed [2008]

Geographical Distribution:

Africa [1765] [1862]
- Algeria [454]
- Canary Is [1862]
- Chad [549]
- Djibouti [1765]
- Egypt [454]
- Ethiopia [24]
- Kenya [210]
- Libya [454]
- Morocco [454]
- Niger [212]
- South Africa [580]
- Tunisia [454]

Asia [1179] [1862] [1872] [1914] [1929] [1930] [1938] [1969] [2008] [2015]
- Afghanistan [1872]
- China [1179]
- India [1862] [1914]
- Indonesia-ISO [1969]
- Iran [2008]
- Iraq [1862]
- Japan [1930]
- Korea [1862]
- Nepal [1914]
- Pakistan [1862] [1938]
- Taiwan [1929]
- USSR [2015]

Australasia [261] [1880]
- Australia [1880]
  - New South Wales
  - Queensland
  - South Australia
  - Victoria
  - Western Australia
- Papua New Guinea [261]
- Tasmania [1880]

Caribbean [2157]
- Caribbean-TRP [1430] [1431]
- Dominican Republic [2157]
- Haiti [2157]

Central America [1460] [1470] [1714]
- Costa Rica [1658]
- Guatemala [1645]
- Mexico(North & Central) [1460] [1470] [1714]

Europe [454] [754] [1869] [1883] [2183] [2196] [2205] [2306] [2309] [2444] [2459] [2460]
- Albania [454] [754]
- Austria [754]
- Balearic Is [454] [754]
- Belgium [2459] [2460]
- Bulgaria [454] [754] [2309]
- Corsica [454] [754]
- Czechoslovakia [754]
- Denmark [754]
- Finland [754]
- France [454] [754]
- Germany [754]
- Great Britain [754] [2183]
- Greece [454] [754]
- Hungary [754]
- Ireland [754]
- Italy [454] [754] [1883]
- Kriti [454] [754] [2306]
- Liechtenstein [2444]
- Luxembourg [2459] [2460]
- Netherlands [754]
- Norway [754]
- Poland [754]
- Portugal [454] [754]
- Romania [754]
- Sardegna [454] [754]
- Sicilia [454]
- Spain [454] [754] [2196]
- Sweden [754]
- Switzerland [754] [2205]
- Turkey in Europe [454] [754] [1869]
- USSR:B-F.E. [754]
- USSR:C-F.E. [754]
- USSR:E-F.E. [754]
- USSR:K-F.E. [754]
- USSR:N-F.E. [754]
- USSR:W-F.E. [754]
- Yugoslavia [454] [754]

Indian Ocean [1915]
- Mauritius [1915]

Middle East [454] [1862] [1896] [1899] [1900]
- Cyprus [454]
- East Aegean Is(Greek) [454]
- Israel [1862]
- Jordan [1862]
- Lebanon [1862]
- Oman [1896]
- Qatar [1899]
- Saudi Arabia [1900]
- Sinai [454]
- Syria [1862]
- Turkey in Asia [454]
- Yemen [1896]

North America [1115] [1431]
- Alaska-Aleutian Is [1115] [1431]
- Canada [1115]
- United States [1119] [1271] [1326] [1431] [1434] [1673] [1680]

Pacific Ocean [1949] [2080] [2235] [2264]
- Chatham Is [2080]
- Fiji [2264]
- Hawaii [1949]
- Kermadec Is [2080]
- New Zealand(North) [2080]
- New Zealand(South) [2080]
- Northern Marianas [2235]

South America [2909]
- Argentina [2909]
- Bolivia [1289]
- Chile [1444]
- Colombia [1292]
- Peru [1292] [1442]

Notes:

A complicated polymorphic species with several subspp. [2016] [2909]
Total area worldwide 32 M hectares. USA, Canada & Argentina contribute c 55%. [2909]
Highly productive, energy-efficient plant although not easy to grow well. [2909]
Widely cultivated as a temperate forage crop tolerating drought and salinity. [1862]
Four subspecies: see ssp. ambigua; ssp. microcarpa; ssp. sativa & ssp. varia.

Last Update: 14/06/2001 13:21:44