Common name: Lucerne; Lusern
Botanical name: Medicago sativum
Alfalfa is a perennial legume plant (i.e. a plant which lives longer than one season, and it produces seeds in a pod).
It normally lives four to eight years. The plant grows to a height of up to 1 m and has a very deep root system, which can stretch more than 15 m. This makes it very resilient, especially to droughts, and enables the plant to draw up valuable nutrients from the soil. It has nitrogen fixing bacteria on its roots which produce nitrogen for the plant to grow on.
This widely cultivated plant is highly nutritious for both humans and animals. Its leaves are rich in protein (3.2gm / 100gm leaf) made up of 8 essential amino acids; contains a full complement of vitamins A, B?, B?, B?, B?, B?, D, (sun-dried alfalfa has been found to be a good source of vitamin D, (containing 1920 IU/kg of vitamin D2 and 25 IU/kg of vitamin D3), E, and K, and is a good source of chlorophyll and carotene, and the minerals calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and trace elements manganese, silicon, copper & zinc.
The alfalfa plant is native to the Middle East. The ancient Arabs called it 'the father of all foods' because of its great value as a food and a medication. Plants were taken to all corners of the world by early travellers and it is now grown literally everywhere.
It is because of all these exceptional nutritive and medicinal properties that alfalfa is one of the important herbal ingredients in the 'Natural Nutrients' and 'Better Breeding' products in the 'Herbs for Birds' range.
If you are able to get hold of fresh alfalfa leaves they can be given to your birds every second day. The birds love eating them. You can also grow a plant pot of alfalfa in your aviary. You need to use a very tall plant pot so as to make space for the plants long roots, and fill the pot with a very good potting soil, mixed with manure and organic fertiliser.
Buy an alfalfa plant from a nursery or a farmer. Place this inside the aviary and construct a firm cage over the pot with rabbit hutch mesh. When the plant grows big enough it will push its leaves through the wire and the birds can rest on the wire and nip off the leaves. Just remember to water the plant regularly and feed it at least every 6 weeks as it will soon deplete the nutrients in the pot.
Alfalfa is prized as feed for dairy cows because of its high protein content and highly digestible fibre, and is fed to beef cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. In poultry diets dried alfalfa leaf concentrate is prized for its carotene content to develop a good yellow colour in egg yolks. Humans eat alfalfa sprouts in salads and sandwiches, and powdered alfalfa leaf is commercially available as a dietary supplement for humans -it is an exceptional additive in 'green' drinks or fruit smoothies. Dried alfalfa leaf is a highly prized medicinal herb and is taken in herbal tea.
Safety precautions and warnings:
Common name: Tree Lucerne, Tagasaste, Canary Island Tree Lucerne
Botanical name: Chamaecytisus palmensis syn. proliferus
The lucerne tree is native to the extremely arid volcanic slopes of the Canary Islands. It became a popular fodder plant in the dry regions of Western Australia to replace hand feeding sheep during autumn when feed supplies were normally very low, and it was also found that it could be fed to cattle. Hearing of this success in the 1980s, Gavin Armstrong, a farmer in the dry region of the Western Cape, became the first farmer in South Africa to grow and later commercialize tagasaste.
Also a legume, this plant is a small, shrubby evergreen tree that grows to a height and crown diameter of about 5 m. Branches often are long, leafy and drooping; flowers are white, fragrant and abundant. It produces flat pea-like pods that turn black when ripe, filled with very tiny seeds. Its roots can extend 10 m deep into the soil. It prefers sandy soils, but thrives on gravels, loams & limestone. It can tolerate low winter temperatures, but leaves will be burnt by frost. It can tolerate very hot temperatures but leaves will close up from stress when temperatures rise above 36 ?C. Originating from the Mediterranean area, it enjoys winter rainfall.
The nutritional value of tagasaste lies in its protein content, which is similar to that of lucerne (hence its name 'tree lucerne'). The protein content makes it a suitable fodder crop for cattle, sheep, goats, horses, game & chickens. It delivers between 2.3 - 2.7gm protein / 100gm.
The obvious difference between this plant and lucerne lies in the fact that its leaves do not have any beneficial medicinal properties.
Meridian Herbs
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Cell: 082 375 0918 Fax: 086 653 2159 margie@meridianherbs.co.za
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Margie Frayne
Notice :
'Herbs for Birds' herbal products are stocked by:
'The Parrot Inn' in Old Johannesburg Road, Centurion - 083-449-1601
'Kollonade Pet Shop' at the Kollonade Mall, Montana - 012-548-7551
'Feeds & Feeders' in Pretoria North - 012-542-3204
'Essential Herbal Products', Durban - 083-409-8309
This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. It is intended to be educational and thought provoking. Neither Meridian Herbs, or any of its officers, director, employees, or representatives will be liable for any direct or indirect, consequential or incidental damages arising from any information contained herein. The limitation of liability is comprehensive and applies to damage of any kind.