Medicago sativa L.

 
  • Family : FABACEAE
    (Pea Or Bean Family)
  • Family (Hindi name) : PALASH FAMILY (पलाश फैमिली)
  • Family (as per The APG System III) : Fabaceae
  • Subfamily : Faboideae
  • Species Name (as per The IPNI) : Medicago sativa L.
  • Common name : Lucerne, alfalfa, common purple lucerne, common lucerne, purple alfalfa, purple medick
  • Vernacular name :
    • Vilayati ghas (Gujarati)
    • Lusan ghas (Hindi)
    • Lusarne soppu, Vilaayiti hullu (Kannada)
    • Vilayati gavat (Marathi)
    • Dureshta, Sinjhi (Oriya)
    • Ashvabala (Sanskrit)
    • Kutirai macal (Tamil)
  • Habit : Herb
  • Habitat : Cultivated throughout India, often escaped to roadsides, fields, grasslands, and stream banks
  • Comments / notes : Cultivated on the hills.
  • Key identification features : Flowers purple to blue; Pods forming a double spiral.
  • Flower, Fruit : March-May
  • Distribution :
    • Odisha : Common
    • Uttarakhand : Uttarakhand
    • Himachal Pradesh : Chamba district, Kinnaur district, Lahaul and Spiti district
    • Delhi : Delhi
    • Uttar Pradesh : Uttar Pradesh
    • Punjab : Punjab
  • Native : Algeria, France, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krym, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia
  • Exotic/Native : Exotic
  • World Distribution : Algeria, France, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Krym, North Caucasus, Tadzhikistan, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia
  • Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
  • Literature :
    • H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1994- Flora of Orissa Vol. 1
    • Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983.
    • Uniyal B.P., Sharma J.R., Choudhery U., Singh D.K. (2007). Flowering Plants of Uttarakhand: A Checklist. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh: 109
    • H J, Chowdhery, et al. Flora of Himachal Pradesh. Volume 1, Botanical Survey of India, 1984. Pg.: 216
  • Read more :
  • Permalink : http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Medicago sativa
  • Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Deepak Kumar (2025). India Flora Online. http://indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Medicago sativa. Downloaded on 30 December 2025.

Herbarium Specimen(s)

Field Image(s)

Habitat

Distribution District wise

India Distribution

World Distribution

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