MEDICAGO FALCATA, A YELLOW-FLOWEEED ALFALFA. 7 



tween Verkhoyansk and Yakutsk and that Lake Baikal may be con- 

 sidered its eastern limit with the exception of the locality around 

 Verkhneudinsk, more than 100 miles east of Lake Baikal and 

 Charonte. The range of the species in eastern Asia extends south- 

 ward to Peking and westward folloAving the northern edge of the 

 great Mongolian Desert, including the region south of the Trans- 

 baikal Mountains and across the Himalayas into northern and west- 

 ern India. Continuing westward, it extends through Turkestan, 

 Persia, Syria, Palestine, and European Turkey. So far as has been 

 reported, the species is not indigenous along the Mediterranean 

 region in northern Africa. 



There are no localities in which Medicago falcata is especially 

 abundant throughout the wide region over which it occurs. Accord- 

 ing to Meyer and others, the section of Siberia in which it is most 

 abundant is that lying to the north of Semipalatinsk. Hansen re- 

 ports it to be very conmion in the Provinces of Tomsk and Akmo- 

 linsk in western Siberia ; likewise in the country adjacent to the Irtish 

 River and in the district immediately to the east of Lake Baikal. 

 According to Dr. N. H. Nilsson,^ of the Experiment Station, Svalof , 

 Sweden, it is found in considerable abundance on dry, sandy soils 

 in many parts of Sweden. 



CLIMATIC AND SOIL REQUIREMENTS. 



Medicago falcata occurs naturally under a great variety of soil and 

 climatic conditions. It is found in moist as well as in dry climates 

 and on soils ranging in character from stiff, heavy clay to almost 

 pure sand. That its requirements with regard to both factors are 

 similar to those of Medicago sativa is clearly shown in the nature of 

 its distribution. However, it seems to have a greater range of gen- 

 eral adaptability than Medicago sativa and is also less exacting in 

 both its soil and climatic requirements. 



It is on the dry steppes of Russia and Siberia that the species at- 

 tains its greatest importance, and over- a large portion of that general 

 region it is a fairly common constituent of the native vegetation. 

 The area in which it is most plentiful under humid climatic condi- 

 tions is in Norway and Sweden on sandy soils, the calcareous nature 

 of which doubtless has much to do with its abundance. 



With regard to altitude, the species has an unusiuil range from 

 below sea level in Palestine to 18,000 feet elevation in Afghanistan, 

 according to J. G. Baker (4). Meyer found forms of it growing at 

 an altitu(](.' of over 4.000 feet between Dushet and Passanui'a, Cau- 

 casus, Russia, and at 1^,700 feet in tlie Valley of tlie (^hong Djighilan, 

 Tien Sliaii Range, Chinese Turkestan. Booth Tucker ' reports it as 

 occurring in India in the Laliid Valley at an elevation of between 



1 In letter on flk' In tlif t'nitfd StiitfH Ixpiirfmcnt of Agriculture. 



