Lucerne

Lucerne (Medicago sativa) is a plant that grows wild throughout Great Britain although it is a non-native species (of Mediterranean origin) that started off as a “tame” one but escaped.

Lucerne is otherwise known as alfalfa, and it has uses as a fodder crop due to its high protein and vitamin content. Farmers have traditionally used lucerne to improve the productivity of their land, because the roots develop small nodules that “fix” nitrogen. This means that nitrogen is taken from the air and transferred to the soil where it becomes an essential plant food.

Wild lucerne grows as a bushy plant up to 36 inches (90 centimetres) high. The leaves split into three leaflets that are toothed towards the ends. The plant flowers in June and July, with the purple (sometimes yellow) flowers clustered near the stem tips.

The flower has an interesting mechanism for achieving pollination. The stamen (male) and stigma (female) parts of the flower are tensioned such that when a bee (or other heavy insect) lands on a flower, the stigma springs up and hits the bee, thus being able to collect any pollen that the bee was carrying. Likewise, the stamen deposits more pollen on the bee that it then carries to the next flower.

The seed pods coil into spirals, each containing many seeds. It is possible to make a salad garnish from lucerne/alfalfa seeds by allowing them to sprout in a glass jar and eating the seedlings, which have a nutty flavour.

© John Welford