Alfalfa

alfalfa is the American and more usual name of a leguminous plant, Medicago sativa, which is often called lucerne in Britain. Apparently a native of Media (Iran), from which comes its generic scientific name, it was said by Pliny to have been introduced to Europe in the course of the invasion of Greece by the Persian Emperor Darius in 491 bc. Laufer (1919) states that it was introduced to China as early as the 2nd century bc.