Medicago sativa
Common name
lucerne
Family
Fabaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Exotic
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
MEDSAT
Conservation status
Not applicable
Flower colours
Violet/Purple
Year naturalised
1875
Origin
Mediterranean, W. Asia
Etymology
medicago: Derived indirectly from the Persian name Media (an Iranian kingdom in existence from late second millennium BC to the first millennium BC), whence alfalfa allegedly originates.