Irish wildflowers

Lucerne, Medicago sativa subsp sativa
Photos: Foynes port, Co.Limerick

Lucerne, Medicago sativa subsp sativa

Lucerne
Medicago sativa ssp. sativa
Family: Fabaceae

Flowering June-September. Perennial. Introduced.

Spikes of violet-purple or lilac flowers, flower-stalks shorter than calyx-tube. Spirally-twisted seedpod, smooth, more/less hairless. Hairless trifoliate leaves. Deep-rooting. Erect growth, 30-60cm.

Roadsides, waste ground, grassland. Found as a rare casual or relic of cultivation.
Identified by Paul Green


     
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