Flora of North America species comparison

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Medicago sativa subsp. sativa
Photo is of parent taxon

alfalfa, lucerne, luzerne cultivée
Flowers

usually purple, sometimes violet, very rarely white.
Legumes

with 1.5–6 coils.
2n

= 32.

Medicago sativa subsp. sativa
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Prai­ries, rocky and grassy slopes, thickets, meadows, sand dunes, fallow fields, roadsides.
Elevation 0–3000 m. (0–9800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; NU; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur, México, Nuevo León, Puebla, Sonora); Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in West Indies, Central America, South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay), Pacific Islands, Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies sativa includes most cultivated forms of alfalfa (including most of the thousands of cultivars) and escapes from cultivation, and is the most common subspecies in the flora area. Many of the plants assignable here have been introgressed from subsp. falcata, but not sufficiently to warrant recognition as the hybrid taxon subsp. × varia, discussed here. Domesticated forms often escape from cultivation but are not aggressive weeds.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Medicago > sect. Medicago > Medicago sativa
Sibling taxa
M. sativa subsp. falcata, M. sativa subsp. ×varia
Name authority unknown
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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