Home Perennial Agriculture Project
Introduction
Name Search
Families
Genera
Species
Asteraceae Family Page
Fabaceae Family Page
Poaceae Family Page
Search Builder
!Medicago sativa L. Search in The Plant ListSearch in IPNISearch in Australian Plant Name IndexSearch in NYBG Virtual HerbariumSearch in Muséum national d'Histoire naturelleSearch in Type Specimen Register of the U.S. National HerbariumSearch in Virtual Herbaria AustriaSearch in JSTOR Plant ScienceSearch in SEINetSearch in African Plants Database at Geneva Botanical GardenAfrican Plants, Senckenberg Photo GallerySearch in Flora do Brasil 2020Search in Reflora - Virtual HerbariumSearch in Living Collections Decrease font Increase font Restore font
 

Published In: Species Plantarum 2: 778–779. 1753. (1 May 1753) (Sp. Pl.) Name publication detailView in BotanicusView in Biodiversity Heritage Library
 

Project Name Data (Last Modified On 11/2/2016)
Acceptance : Accepted
Project Data     (Last Modified On 7/17/2018)
GROWTH: Lifespan: Perennial
Life form: Herbaceous
Sexual reproduction: Outcrossing
Plant-human relationship: Cultivated
ECONOMIC USE: Domestic animal edible: Fodder, Silage
Human edible: Flowers, Leaves, Seeds, Stems
Details: Economic use: Seeds ground into flour or sprouted and eaten. Leaves and flowers edible (Facciola 1998). Used for fodder by Shushwap and Ramah Navajo. Used as flavoring by Okanagan-Colville (Moerman 1998).
Toxic parts: Leaves, Seeds, Silage
Details: Toxicity: Though alfalfa is widely used as a forage crop, it can cause bloat and acute respiratory distress in grazing animals, particularly those suddenly moved from poorer forage onto alfalfa, and the hay may cause photosensitivity; minor estrogenic effects are rarely reported (Burrows & Tyrl 2001; Wagstaff 2008).
References:

 

 

 

 

Export
 
 
© 2024 Missouri Botanical Garden - 4344 Shaw Boulevard - Saint Louis, Missouri 63110