Alfalfa

Medicago sativa L.

2010 Barry Breckling cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Medicago sativa (Alfalfa) is a species of perennial herb in the family legumes. They have a self-supporting growth form. They have compound, broad leaves and purple flowers. Flowers are visited by Long Dash, Sphaerophoria, Russet Skipperling, and Queen of Spain Fritillary. Individuals can grow to 2 feet.

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/FLOPO_0980073
Definition: Of plant duration, a plant whose life span extends over more than two growing seasons, c.f. annual, biennial, ephemeral, of flowering with respect to architecture, hapaxanthic, monocarpic, pleonanthic
Attribution: Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 12, July 2012. Glossary: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/top/glossaryi_p.html#perennial

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/FLOPO_0022142
Definition: whole plant herbaceous

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URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/self-supportingGrowthForm
Definition: an organism relying on its own supportive tissues rather than a climbing habit to achieve vertical growth

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PO_0020043
Definition: A leaf having two or more distinct leaflets that are evident as such from early in development

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0002359
Definition: A quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's width being notably higher than its length.

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000951
Definition: A color that falls about midway between red and blue in hue.
Attribution: [database_cross_reference: Dictionary:http://dictionary.reference.com/]

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EOL has data for 88 attributes, including:

after harvest regrowth rate
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/AfterHarvestRegrowthRate
- Definition: Indicates the relative rate of regrowth of a herbaceous plant after a harvest of above ground herbage.
- Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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fast
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000912
- Definition: Increased rate. A rate which is relatively high.
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anaerobic soil tolerance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/AnaerobicSoilTolerance
- Definition: The relative tolerance of the plant to anaerobic soil conditions.
- Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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none
- URI: http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/SNOMEDCT/260413007
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has dispersal vector
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/HasDispersalVector
- Definition: which agent of biological dispersal moves a dispersal unit, or organism, away from its birth population to another location or population in which the individual will reproduce.
- Attribution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispersal_vector
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anemochory
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/anemochory
- Definition: Seed dispersal by wind (with wind dispersal adaptations, such as pappus or wings).
- Attribution: http://www.uv.es/jgpausas/brot.htm
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calcareous soil tolerance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/CalcareousSoilTolerance
- Definition: The relative tolerance of the plant to calcareous soil. Calcareous soil is defined as soil containing sufficient free CaCO3 and other carbonates to effervesce visibly or audibly when treated with cold 0.1M HCl. These soils usually contain from 10 to almost 1000g/kg CaCO3 equivalent.
- Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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high tolerance
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0002393
- Definition: A tolerance quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's increased ability to endure a stimulus
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fire resistance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/FireResistance
- Definition: The ability of an organism to resist burning.
- Comment: If a plant can carry a fire—and most can—it is scored as "not fire resistant" in the USDA PLANTS database where this characteristic is evaluated with reference to problem fires in California. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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no
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/no
- Definition: This statement is false; the answer to this question is no.
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fire tolerance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/FireTolerance
- Definition: The relative ability of a plant to resprout, regrow, or reestablish from residual seed after a fire.
- Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields (Fire tolerance). http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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high tolerance
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0002393
- Definition: A tolerance quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's increased ability to endure a stimulus
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fruit or seed color
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/FruitSeedColor
- Definition: The predominant and conspicuous color of the mature fruit or seed from a landscaping aesthetics standpoint.
- Attribution: USDA Plants database. Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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brown
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0000952
- Definition: A color consisting of dark orange, red, of very low intensity.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown]
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invasive in
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/InvasiveRange
- Definition: Information about the jurisdictions where the taxon is considered to be an invasive organism due to its negative impact on human welfare or ecosystems.
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United States
- URI: http://www.geonames.org/6252001
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optimal growth pH
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/OptimalGrowthpH
- Definition: The pH of a medium (water column, soil moisture) at which the growth rate of an organism is typically optimized
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7.5
optimal growth temperature
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/OptimalGrowthTemperature
- Definition: Optimal temperature conditions for cell division
- Attribution: Created by Anne Thessen
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27 degrees celsius
post-fire seedling emergence
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PostFireSeedlingEmergence
- Definition: Seedling density per pre-fire mature individuals emerging during the first year after fire (seedlings/mature).
- Attribution: BROT trait database. Traits: units and categories (SeedlEmerg), http://www.uv.es/jgpausas/brot.htm
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yes
- URI: http://purl.bioontology.org/ontology/SNOMEDCT/373066001
- Attribution: http://ihtsdo.org
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precipitation tolerance
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PrecipitationTolerance
- Definition: Minimum tolerable rainfall (in inches), expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
- Comment: Minimum precipitation tolerance: Minimum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. Maximum precipitation tolerance: Maximum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the annual average precipitation of the wettest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
- Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
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12 inch

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of alfalfa. View this species on GBIF

2010 Barry Breckling cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

alfalfa includes 4 children: