Home Page > Picture Archives > Flora of Qatar > Fabaceae > Medicago sativa

Medicago sativa L.

Synonyms

Medicago afganica, Medicago grandiflora, Medicago ladak, Medicago mesopotamica, Medicago orientalis, Medicago polia, Medicago praesativa, Medicago sogdiana, Trigonella upendrae

Common names

Alfalfa, barseem, jet, lucerne

Extract from Wikipedia article

Alfalfa /ælˈfælfə/, Medicago sativa, also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. The Spanish-Arabic (according to wiktionary and the DRAE) name alfalfa is widely used, particularly in North America and Australia. But in the UK, South Africa and New Zealand, the more commonly used name is lucerne. It superficially resembles clover, with clusters of small purple flowers followed by fruits spiralled in 2 to 3 turns containing 10-20 seeds. Alfalfa is native to warmer temperate climates. It has been cultivated as livestock fodder since at least the era of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) in Trainah in southern Qatar, February 14, 2014
Mazra`at Turayna, Qatar

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) on roadside in southern Qatar, February 14, 2014
Salwa Rd, Abū Nakẖlah, Qatar

Alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) in Trainah gardens. Southern Qatar, March 5, 2014
Unnamed Road, Mazra`at Turayna, Qatar

Blooming alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) in Trainah gardens. Southern Qatar, March 5, 2014
Mazra`at Turayna, Qatar

Alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) on Green Circles (center-pivot irrigation) in Irkhaya Farms. South-western Qatar, March 29, 2014
Unnamed Road, Qatar

Flower of alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) on Green Circles (center-pivot irrigation) in Irkhaya Farms. South-western Qatar, March 29, 2014
Unnamed Road, Qatar

Alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) in sand on roadside of Salwa Road near Karaana, south-west from Doha. Qatar, April 23, 2014
Salwa Rd, Qatar

Bush of alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem) near a pond on Green Circles (center-pivot irrigation) in Irkhaya (Irkaya) Farms. Qatar, April 10, 2015
Unnamed Road, Qatar

Fresh leaves of alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa, local names jet, barseem)(?) on Green Circles (center-pivot irrigation) in Irkhaya (Irkaya) Farms. Qatar, December 18, 2015
Unnamed Road, Qatar

Flowers and fruits of alfalfa (lucerne, Medicago sativa) taken from Green Circles (center-pivot irrigation) in Irkhaya (Irkaya) Farms. Qatar, June 3, 2016
Unnamed Road, Qatar

Links

• Flora of Qatar.
• Unknown plants or plants without names.
• Duplicate and extra pictures of plants.
• Earlier version of collection of plants.
• Other collections of pictures from Qatar: Lizards of Qatar, Cats of Qatar, Camels of Qatar, and Fish of Qatar.
• Picture archives.
• Home page of A. Sergeev.

Outside links

• Medicago sativa, Wikipedia article
• Medicago sativa from www.catalogueoflife.org
• Ekhlas M. M. Abdel Bary, The Flora of Qatar, Volume I: The Dicotyledons. Doha 2012
• Flora of Qatar, Volume II: The Monocotyledons
• Illustrated Checklist of the Flora of Qatar. John Norton et al. 2009
• Qatar eNature. Flora
• Ali Al-Rawi, Flowering plants of Kuwait, 1985
• Plants of Kuwait
• Flora of Saudi Arabia, Al-Qassim Region
• Flora of Eastern Saudi Arabia by Rain and Dust at Flickr
• Plants of South-Western Morocco
• Pictures from Qatar (Flickr/cpmkutty)
• Arabian plants by Gary Brown
• Flora of Israel

How the web page was created

• A list of plants with their common names was written using online sources and books.
• Web pages were written by a program consisting of several scripts.
• Full names, synonyms, and classification of plants were found online from catalogueoflife.org and theplantlist.org using a script.
• Pictures of plants were selected from a database using a script.
• This web page was written using a script.

Acknowledgements

QNHG (Qatar Natural History Group) and associated people, for a possibility to participate in their field excursions and to learn about local nature.