Alfalfa

Alfalfa is known to be a very common perennial flowering plant which is cultivate as one of the very useful forage crop. It is also known as the Purple Medic, Trefoil or the Lucrene commonly.

Alfalfa is now one of he leading legumes in the agriculture of the world, and the largest alfalfa producer is the US itself, with the states of California and South Dakota being the highest producers.

Alfalfa is known to be a very adaptive plant and it can be used to grow in the cold climates of the northern plans and mountains, as well as the Mediterranean and hot desert climates at the same time. The lie of an Alfalfa plant though is much shorter and it can live up to three to twelve yeas depending on the climate availability.

The height of the Agrimony legume is about 1 meter and it is quite often compared for its resemblance with the clover and clusters of small purple flowers. The root system of the Agrimony is as deep as about stretching to the extent of 4.5 meters normally. This is why the plant is very tough and resilient to the droughts specially.

It has a tetraploid genome.

Alfalfa plant has a tetraploid genome, and its plants have the characteristics of being autotoxin which means that they do not survive if grown in the pre-existing fields of Alfalfa. This is why it is always recommended to clear or rotate the field before the reseeding is carried out.

Alfalfa is most commonly used for the dairy purposes which involve the sheep, horses and goats however it is also sometimes used for the human consumption. The sprouts of the Alfalfa are a common ingredient for the salads more widely used in the western countries. Alfalfa are also used as dietary supplements after dehydrating the leaves in several forms like the tablets, powders and even tea.