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Medicago sativa
Also called Lucerne, Medick
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown mainly as livestock forage, for hay, silage and grazing. It thrives in sunny, well-drained soil and tolerates drought well once established.
Medicago sativa, commonly known as alfalfa () in North America and lucerne () in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Australia, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae.
Native to warmer temperate climates, alfalfa has long been cultivated as livestock fodder, perhaps since antiquity. It is an important forage crop in many countries around the world and is used for grazing, hay, and silage.
Alfalfa sprouts may contain microbiological pathogens, mainly from Salmonella or E. coli, which have caused numerous food product recalls and illness outbreaks, putting sprouts into a "high risk" category for food safety. People with weakened immune systems, such as the elderly, pregnant women, or those taking prescription drugs affecting the immune system, should not eat sprouts.
With long-term human consumption of alfalfa seeds, several safety concerns and medication interactions may result, including possible reactions similar to lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease.
Alfalfa is considered an insectary plant and may help other crops such as cotton because it harbours predatory and parasitic insects that would protect the other crop if the two were interplanted. Harvesting the alfalfa by mowing the entire crop area destroys the insect population; this can be avoided by mowing in strips so that part of the growth remains.
Raw alfalfa seed sprouts are 93% water, 2% carbohydrates, 1% fat, and 4% protein. In a reference amount of 100 g (3.5 oz), raw sprouts supply 23 calories and a rich content of vitamin K (25% of the Daily Value, table).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Alfalfa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
