alfalfa
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Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) |
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The lucerne ( Medicago sativa ), also seed lucerne , alfalfa , snail clover or perpetual clover , engl. lucerne (Brit.) or alfalfa known (Amer.), is a species of the genus alfalfa ( Medicago ) in subfamily Schmetterlingsblütler (Faboideae) within the family of the Leguminosae (Fabaceae). It is also a useful plant .
description
Vegetative characteristics
The alfalfa grows as a wintering green , perennial herbaceous plant and reaches stature heights of up to about 1 meter. It has a deep root system with rhizomes of over 4.5 meters, which allows it to withstand unfavorable periods of precipitation (droughts). The upright, more or less hairy stem is square.
The alternate leaves are threefold. The short-stalked leaflets are obovate to elliptical and up to about 3 centimeters long. The edge of the leaflet is sawed all the way to the tip. The tip is pointed to prickly. The nerve is pinnate with an indented central artery on the upper side and a raised central artery on the lower side. The underside of the leaflets are sometimes more or less cobweby, hairy when pressed, otherwise they are bare. They are small, serrated and langspitzige Stipules present.
Generative characteristics
Dense, long-stalked and axillary, racemose inflorescences are formed. The short-stalked butterfly flowers are bluish to purple, purple or white. The ten stamens are arranged diadelphically. The upper, short-stalked ovary is long and narrow.
The brown, more or less hairy and reticulate veined as well as pointed, flat legumes are straight to mostly spirally wound, curled and up to about 5 to 9 millimeters in diameter. The spiral fruits have about 1.5 to 3.5 whorls . The up to about 2– (8) 15 yellowish or light to orange-brownish and kidney-shaped seeds are about 1.5–2 millimeters in size.
The flowering period extends from June to September.
ecology
The alfalfa grows as a hemikryptophyte (stem plant), sometimes also as a chamaephyte . She is a pronounced deep rooter. Leaf joints ( pulvini ) make nightly sleep movements ( nastia ) possible, whereby the feathers fold upwards to protect against heat loss at night.
Like other legumes , alfalfa has the ability to absorb nitrogen from the air with the help of symbiotic nodule bacteria (rhizobia) and is therefore able to produce protein independently of the nitrogen present in the soil . The alfalfa lives in symbiosis with its host-specific species Sinorhizobium meliloti .
In terms of flower ecology, it is nectar-bearing "butterfly flowers" with a quick mechanism. The tension between the sexual column and the shuttle is caused by a swelling tissue on the underside of the stamen tube. The pollen is thrown to the head of the visitors when they sit on the boat by the stamens that pop out. The pollinators get a blow when they run fast , which does not bother many species of bees . But the adaptive honeybees avoid the unpleasant blow after a while by reaching the nectar with their proboscis from the side. However, this does not result in pollination . Therefore, leaf cutter bees of the species Megachile rotundata have been brought out to achieve seed set since the 1960s . The flowers are partially self-sterile .
The flowers are almost exclusively visited by bumblebees , such as u. a. Tests in Sweden showed. There, less than 1% of the alfalfa fields were pollinated by bees , but 78% by bumblebees. In Finland , therefore, the cultivation has been relocated to areas where there are still very many bumblebees.
The seeds are thrown out of the multi-seeded, spiral, only slightly opening pods by the wind. After that they can spread further as rolled crops; however, it is mostly spread randomly by ungulates . The fruit ripens from August. Vegetative reproduction is possible by branching the rhizome.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 32.
The alfalfa is attacked by the rust fungus Uromyces striatus with uredia and telia .
Occurrence
It is often cultivated in fields in Central Europe and is constantly wilding; then it colonizes roadsides, semi- arid grasslands that are becoming ruderal and dry meadows . It is absent in the Central European lowlands and in the higher low mountain ranges; otherwise it occurs scattered in Central Europe .
The alfalfa thrives best on deep, somewhat calcareous, but only moderately nutritious and humus-rich loam or loess soils .
Agriculture
Alfalfa is grown worldwide as cattle feed, but also as food ( sprouts ). Very often, if not predominantly, the plants grown in Central Europe are not the pure Medicago sativa species, but the hybrid alfalfa ( Medicago × varia ).
History of Cultivation
Alfalfa was already an important fodder for horses in Persia . According to tradition, it was built around 470 BC. Brought to Greece . From there it came around 150–50 BC. To Italy, where it was used as fodder for sheep. At the beginning of the 16th century AD, the Spanish colonial rulers brought alfalfa to America, primarily to Mexico and Peru . She came to Germany from Italy through Waldensians from the Luserna Valley in Piedmont , who founded the Lucerne settlement near Wurmberg in 1699 . The distribution, initially in Württemberg, is attributed to the Waldensian Anton Seignoret. The sickle alfalfa is grown in northern areas only been about 200 years.
When alfalfa and meadow (= red) clover were introduced to Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century , it became apparent that no significant seed yield could be achieved because of the absence of bumblebees there. At the suggestion of Charles Darwin , four species of bumblebee were imported in 1885 to ensure pollination.
Up to the present day, alfalfa has asserted itself in temperate to sub- humid tropical areas.
Cultivation
Their nitrogen-fixing ability improves the productivity of agricultural soils. When grown in suitable soils, alfalfa is a productive forage crop. Sowing takes place in spring on a well-set seed bed with a pH of around 6.8 to 7.5.
Alfalfa is mostly harvested as silage or green meal for pellets , less often than hay due to high crumbling losses , but it can also be grazed. It reaches an age of five to twelve years, depending on, for example, soil and climate . In Germany it is used for 2–3 years, in other climatic zones longer. In most climates, alfalfa is cut three or four times a year. The yield is around 10 t dry matter / ha and year, but varies regionally, depending on the weather and the stage of ripeness when it is cut. The plant should flower once a year in order to remain usable for several years.
In order to make Bavarian farmers more independent of imported soy from overseas, especially when feeding cattle , Minister of Agriculture Helmut Brunner is increasingly supporting the cultivation of local alfalfa. He sees advantages in terms of protein content compared to soybeans, and alfalfa is also characterized by nitrogen fertilizer savings, adaptation to dry locations and the ability to improve soil. It is a rich source of food for bees and insects.
The water requirement is around 500–650 mm per quintal dry matter .
Genetically modified alfalfa
In 2005, the first genetically modified (GM) alfalfa was approved in the USA as both food and animal feed. The RoundupReady alfalfa developed by Monsanto is resistant to Roundup (a broad spectrum herbicide). In the first year of cultivation in 2006, this alfalfa was grown in the USA on an area of around 80,000 to 100,000 hectares.
In 2007, after extensive protests by environmental and consumer protection groups, the approval in the USA was revoked again by order of a Californian court, as the approval had to be preceded by an extensive environmental impact assessment. Since then, cultivation has only been possible with severe restrictions. In December 2009 the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its audit report, which considered the risk of environmental damage to be "unlikely" and recommended that the cultivation of RoundupReady alfalfa be allowed unconditionally . On January 27, 2011, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced that RoundupReady alfalfa has been fully approved for cultivation again after extensive and transparent tests.
Further approvals for the cultivation of the product exist in Canada and Japan . Field trials were also carried out in Argentina and in 1994 in Belgium and Spain; commercial use is not expected in Europe for the time being.
composition
100 g fresh leaves contain:
| ingredient | g or mg |
|---|---|
| water | 79.5 g |
| carbohydrates | 12.2 g |
| protein | 6.9 g |
| fat | 0.13 g |
| potassium | 137 mg |
| Calcium | 16.6 mg |
| sodium | 1.2 mg |
| iron | 0.34 mg |
| carotene | 28.1 mg |
Other ingredients are coumarin derivatives and saponins . Seeds contain the harmful amino acid canavanine , most of which is broken down during germination.
literature
- Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait. 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .
Web links
- Alfalfa. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Medicago sativa L. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia).
- Lucerne in naturopathy at Phytodoc.de.
- Data sheet with photos at Günther Blaich homepage.
Individual evidence
- ↑ biologie.uni-hamburg .
- ↑ a b Helmut and Margrit Hintermeier: Bees, bumblebees, wasps in the garden and in the landscape. 2nd edition, Obst- und Gartenbauverlag, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-87596-098-X .
- ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas. 8th edition, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , p. 588.
- ↑ Peter Zwetko: The rust mushrooms Austria . (PDF; 1.8 MB) Supplement and host-parasite directory for the 2nd edition of the Catalogus Florae Austriae, III. Part, Book 1, Uredinales.
- ↑ a b c Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe. Volume 2: Yew plants to butterfly flowering plants , Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-440-06192-2 .
- ^ Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (ed.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . tape 3 : Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Rosidae): Droseraceae to Fabaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3314-8 .
- ↑ FF Matenaers: The Luzernebau. After the practical experience, scientific observations and research in North America. Parey, Berlin 1912.
- ^ Wurmberg in the description of the Maulbronn Oberamts ( Wikisource )
- ↑ Otto E. Heuser: The Lucerne. Properties, cultivation and utilization of a valuable forage plant. Parey, Berlin 1931.
- ^ Bavarian State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry: Lucerne instead of soy. ( Memento of the original from September 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Anonymous: Cultivation of genetic engineering alfalfa in the USA: Green light after environmental assessment. In: TransGen. January 21, 2010, online ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ USDA Announces Decision to Fully Deregulate Roundup Ready Alfalfa. USDA press release , January 27, 2011 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Entry in the Transgen Food Database : Lucerne - Alfalfa. October 29, 2009. ( Memento of the original from October 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ternes, Täufel, Tunger, Zobel: Food Lexicon. 4th edition. Behr's Verlag, 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 .
- ↑ B.-E. van Wyk: Food Plants of the World. Timber Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-88192-743-6 , p. 243.
