alfalfa
Medicago sativa · Fabaceae
alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Fabaceae family. It is introduced to North America rather than native. USDA records it as hardy in zone 2 and warmer, down to about -43°F.
⚠ Allelopathic. USDA flags this plant as releasing compounds that can suppress the growth of plants near it. Give neighbours extra room, and expect some companions to struggle regardless of how well their conditions match.
Both flags are quoted from USDA PLANTS, not inferred.
At a glance
| Type | forb-herb USDA |
|---|---|
| Lifecycle | perennial USDA |
| Native status | introduced USDA |
| Mature height | 2 ft USDA |
| Light | full-sun USDA |
| Water need | medium USDA |
| Growth rate | rapid USDA |
| Soil pH | 6.2–8.5 USDA |
| Bloom | March–May USDA |
| Flower color | Purple USDA |
| Hardiness zones | 2 and warmer USDA |
| Guild layer | nutrient Derived |
| Nursery availability | Routinely Available USDA |
USDA quoted from the USDA PLANTS database · Derived computed by a fixed rule from those columns. No value on this page is estimated.
Growing conditions
It needs full sun. USDA rates it as having moderate water needs. It is recorded on soils from pH 6.2 to 8.5 — a broad range that spans acidic through mildly alkaline ground. Its cold limit is zone 2; USDA publishes no warm-end limit, so gardeners in warmer zones should check local heat tolerance separately.
Size and growth
At maturity it reaches about 2 ft, making it a low to knee-height plant. It grows quickly, which matters when you are timing a planting around the layers above it.
Bloom period
USDA records a bloom period of March through May. The flower color USDA records is purple. Bloom timing is how the Guild Builder overlaps flowering across a planting so something is in flower for as much of the season as possible.
Bloom period is a claim about when this plant flowers. It is deliberately not a pollinator rating — no dataset we trust publishes one, so we do not make that claim. See Data & sources.
Role in a guild
Nutrient layer. In a layered planting this is it contributes to soil fertility rather than to structure. We derive the layer from the plant's growth habit and mature height using a fixed rule, so the same inputs always produce the same layer.
Tags
Related plants
Others in Medicago
- black medick Medicago lupulina
- burclover Medicago polymorpha
- snail medick Medicago scutellata
Similar role and hardiness
- chickpea milkvetch Astragalus cicer
Where this data comes from
Every value on this page comes from the USDA PLANTS database record for symbol MESA, or is computed from those values by a fixed rule. Nothing here is estimated or model-generated. Where USDA publishes no value, this page omits the claim rather than filling the gap.
allelopath— quoted from USDA PLANTSbloom_end— quoted from USDA PLANTSbloom_start— quoted from USDA PLANTScommercial_availability— quoted from USDA PLANTSduration— quoted from USDA PLANTSedible— quoted from USDA PLANTSflower_color— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_habit— quoted from USDA PLANTSgrowth_rate— quoted from USDA PLANTSguild_role— derived by rule from USDA columnsmature_height_ft— quoted from USDA PLANTSmoisture— quoted from USDA PLANTSnative_status— quoted from USDA PLANTSnitrogen_fixer— quoted from USDA PLANTSpet_safe— quoted from USDA PLANTSph_max— quoted from USDA PLANTSph_min— quoted from USDA PLANTSshade_tolerance— quoted from USDA PLANTStemperature_min_f— quoted from USDA PLANTSzone_min— quoted from USDA PLANTS
Read our full data sources and methodology.
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