Summary
Verified:
06/10/1987
ARS Systematic Botanists.
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Reference(s)
- Alfalfa Crop Germplasm Committee. Report on the Status of Medicago Germplasm in the United States. 2000 21.
- Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
- Boulos, L. Flora of Egypt checklist. 1995
- Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
- Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
- Gunn, C. R. et al. 1978. Classification of Medicago sativa L. using legume characters and flower colors. Techn. Bull. U.S.D.A. 1574:7.
- Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
- Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
- Kitagawa, M. Neo-lineamenta florae Manshuricae. 1979
- Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
- Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 1979 95.
- Lesins, K. 1952. Some data on the cytogenetics of alfalfa. J. Heredity 43:287-291.
- Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
- Meikle, R. D. Flora of Cyprus. 1977-1985
- Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
- Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. Flora of [West] Pakistan. 1970-
- Ohwi, J. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.). 1965
- Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
- Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
- Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
- Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3268.
- Täckholm, V. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2. 1974
- Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. Flora of Iraq. 1966-
- Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
- USDA Agricultural Research Service: Plant Research Unit. 2010. Forages for new uses, enhances quality, & stress tolerance through genomics and genetic improvement.
- Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
Common names
English
alfalfa – lucerne – violet-flower lucerne – French
luzerne – German
blaue Luzerne – Luzerne – Japanese Rōmaji
murasaki-umagoyashi – Portuguese
luzerna – Spanish
mielga – Swedish
blålusern – Transcribed Chinese
zi mu xu –
Distribution
| order_code | Status | Continent | Subcontinent | Country | State | Note |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Afghanistan | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Iran | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Iraq | | |
| 1 | Native | Asia-Temperate | Western Asia | Turkey | | |
| 2 | Cultivated | | | | | |
| 4 | Naturalized | | | | | |
Native
Asia-Temperate
-
WESTERN ASIA:
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey
Cultivated
()
Naturalized
()
Economic Uses
| Usage | Type | Note | Reference |
| Animal food | fodder | | Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3268. |
| Animal food | forage | | Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3268. |
| Fuels | potential as petroleum substitute/alcohol | | USDA Agricultural Research Service: Plant Research Unit. 2010. Forages for new uses, enhances quality, & stress tolerance through genomics and genetic improvement. |
| Human food | vegetable | | Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998 |
| Medicines | folklore | | McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000 |
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System.
2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network
(GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=300359.
Accessed 19 July 2025.