我国古代苜蓿物种考述

Alfalfa species in ancient China

由于最早记载苜蓿的典籍没有明示其是紫花还是黄花,导致对我国古代苜蓿物种认识上存在分歧,目前大致有5种观点:一是古代苜蓿专指紫花苜蓿;二是南苜蓿;三是紫苜蓿与南苜蓿的合称;四是黄花苜蓿;五是不确定。本研究应用植物考据学原理,通过收集整理记载苜蓿植物生物学的典籍,结合近现代研究成果,考证苜蓿物种。研究表明,汉代从大宛国传入我国的苜蓿与紫花苜蓿的起源地相一致,并且唐代韩鄂《四时纂要》明确记载了苜蓿开紫花,主要分布在黄河流域,这与我国汉代苜蓿最初引种地相一致,在之后也有不少典籍同样记述了苜蓿开紫花,乃至苜蓿的生态生物学特性。可以确定,我国汉代引入的苜蓿应该是开紫花的苜蓿,即紫花苜蓿。宋梅尧臣和明李时珍记述的开黄花的苜蓿,至少说明在宋代和明代开黄花的苜蓿就在我国存在和被利用。据清《植物名实图考》记载,在古代我国有3种苜蓿被利用,即紫花苜蓿、南苜蓿和黄花苜蓿。

The species of alfalfa that existed in ancient China is unclear,because the color of its flowers was not recorded in any of the ancient texts.At present,there are five theories about the species of alfalfa in ancient China：1）It was Medicago sativa;2）it was Medicago hispida;3）it was both M.sativaand M.hispida;4）it was Medicago falcata;5）the species is uncertain.On the basis of a critical evaluation of the alfalfa phytobiology literature and modern research findings,we speculate about the origin of alfalfa species in China.The results showed that alfalfa spread throughout China from Dayuan,consistent with the records of M.sativaintroduction.Han E wrote in Sishi Zhuanyao in the Tang dynasty that the origin of the alfalfa species with purple flowers distributed along the yellow river was the same as that of the alfalfa referred to during the Han dynasty.After that,many texts recorded alfalfa with purple flowers and even its ecological and biological characteristics.It can be concluded that the alfalfa species naturalized in the Han dynasty had purple flowers,so it was M.sativa.Mei Yaochen in the Song dynasty and Li Shizhen in the Ming dynasty mentioned alfalfa with yellow flowers,indicating that yellow-flowered alfalfa existed and was utilized in China in the Song and Ming dynasties.According to the records in the Illustrated Catalogue of Plants,three alfalfa species（M.sativa,M.hispida,and M.falcata）were grown in ancient China.