Medicago sativa
Luzerne cultivée
Lucerne or Alfalfa
Additional information
| Plant family | |
|---|---|
| Area | Provence Verte |
| Flower colour | purple |
| Flower size | 7-11 mm |
| Flowering months | June, July |
| Leaf type | Lanceolate, Elliptic, Trifoliate |
| Height | 40-90 cm |
Description
A cultivated clover grown as livestock fodder and as green manure. It self-seeds in open places, next to vineyards, or country roads. Many plants in the Fabaceae family have a relationship with bacteria in the soil. The bacteria take the nitrogen that exists in the air pockets in the soil and feed it through the roots to the plant; in return the plant gives carbohydrates to the bacteria. In green manure the crop is turned under, in doing so, fertilising the soil with nitrogen.
Flowers
Flowers in 5-40 flowered racemes.
Leaves
Trifoliate with three leaflets, Elliptic oval leaf, Lanceolate leaf is lance-shaped: long and widest in the middle. Three leaflets, oval to long, pointed. Terminal leaflet is stalked. Tip of the leaves have toothed margins.
Fruits Seeds
Pod: in a cluster, each pod curled into a circle, with a hole in the middle, 5-6 mm.
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