Leaf
Emmanuel Stratmains, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa L.
Also known as: Lucerne
Family: Fabaceae
30 cm to 1 m
Cultivated grassland, field margins, wasteland
Flowering: May – September
Full sun
Very hardy, to -20°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Pod coiled in a spiral — one of the most recognisable fruits among the legumes.
🍃 Leaves
Three elongated leaflets, finely toothed at the tip
🌸 Flowers
Small, violet to bluish, in short racemes
🍎 Fruits
Small pod coiled in a spiral
🪵 Bark
Upright, branched herbaceous stem
🗺️ Distribution
Native to Central Asia, cultivated since antiquity; common in France as a fodder crop and naturalised along field margins
🐝 Value for pollinators
Violet flowers very rich in nectar, widely visited by honeybees and wild bees
✂️ Horticultural uses
Grown as a fodder plant and green manure, little used as an ornamental
⚠️ Possible toxicity
No known toxicity; sprouted seeds sometimes not recommended in large quantity because of L-canavanine
🌿 Other Fabaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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