Saracen was derived from a cross between two accessions of Medicago polymorpha, selection was carried out for spineless pods, early flowering, high pod and seed yield, high winter and spring herbage yield.
Saracen flowers 80-85 days after late May sowings. When moisture limits growth in spring, Saracen can remain vegetative longer than other Medicago
polymorpha cultivars of similar maturity.
Saracen has shown broad adaptability in low to medium rainfall evidence on a wide range of soils in areas receiving down to 300 mm of annual rainfall.
Saracen is suited to a wide range of soil types including mildly acidic red brown sandy loams to neutral grey clays and red-grey loams. Persistence in mildly acidic soils is possible provided there is reasonable clay content in the surface soil and nutrition is adequate.
The high seed yields achieved with Saracen give rise to high plant densities in regeneration pastures, commonly in the range of 500 – 1500 plants/m2.
The superior regeneration capability of Saracen has given rise to higher dry matter production, especially in winter and spring.
Hard seed testing was largely conducted on material recovered from the soil surface in autumn. Results indicate seed grown over two consecutive years as collected gave an average residual hard seed level of 68% but was as high as 80% at some sites.
Saracen is useful in pastoral and crop-pasture systems in marginal and subtropical environments. Saracen is an ideal legume when planted with subtropical grasses, adding diversity to those subtropical systems, particularly when sown into or with sub-tropical perennial grasses.
Saracen can also be used to improve soil fertility by replacing nitrogen levels
improve stock feed by pasture regeneration or hay production, improve yield,
protein content and soil nitrogen levels in cereal crops.

Hardseedness Level - 1 = least hard, 10 = most hard