sentences:  This name is the root of the modern scientific name for the alfalfa genus, "Medicago".The medieval Arabic agricultural writer Ibn al-'Awwam, who lived in Spain in the later 12th century, discussed how to cultivate alfalfa, which he called ("").A 13th-century general-purpose Arabic dictionary, "Lisān al-'Arab", says that alfalfa is cultivated as an animal feed and consumed in both fresh and dried forms.