Читать книгу Some Useful Wild Plants - Dan Jason - Страница 7

Alfalfa

Medicago sativa

Fabaceae

Alfalfa is sometimes called lucerne or buffalo herb. It is grown in many places for animal feed and is also often seen growing wild in fields. This clover-like plant has a deep taproot, numerous stems, and leaves that appear in threes but are narrower and smaller than clover leaves. It has racemes of small flowers that are usually purple but sometimes yellow.

Alfalfa flowers have been used as a cough remedy, and alfalfa leaves are most commonly used in combination with mint leaves as a food or tonic. The leaves of young plants (best collected in the spring or early summer) can be dried, ground and eaten raw in salad, steeped in hot water as tea or mixed in with prepared cereal. We suggest that the leaves be used as nutrient and tonic: they are an excellent source of vitamins A, B, D, E and K; alfalfa leaves also contain potassium, phosphorous, iron, sodium, silicon, magnesium and many trace elements. Alfalfa is very high in protein (18.9 percent) and calcium, and alfalfa leaves as tea contain no oxalic acid or caffeine. Much more of the protein content can be assimilated if the leaves are put through a grinder first.

Alfalfa