Alfalfa (Lucerne)

Common name: Alfalfa (Lucerne)

Scientific name: Medicago sativa

Dimensions:
  Flower: ¼-½" (6-12 mm) long
  Plant height: 1-3' (30-90 cm)

Blooming period: June - September

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, weedy places

Description: Tightly packed short clusters of purple or blue-violet pea-like flowers; flower stalks shorter than the calyx tube; the round or short cylindrical flower heads are 1-1½" (2.5-3.5 cm) tall. Leaves alternate on plant stem; pinnately compound with 3 leaflets each ½-1¼" (1-3.2 cm) long, clover-like; leaflets toothed toward the tip; stalk of middle leaflet turns upward. A plant nutritionally rich that has been cultivated primarily for livestock, it has escaped to roadsides and weedy places. Pea family. (July 4)