Fig. 1

Observation and measurement of the morphology of alfalfa seeds at five stages of development. A The developmental progress of alfalfa seeds. Length (B), width (C), area (D), fresh weight (E), dry weight (F), and water content (G) of developing seeds. Alfalfa seeds were obtained at 11, 19, 27, 35, 43, and 51 days after pollination, and the time points were designated as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, and S6, respectively. The scale bar is 2 mm. Different letters indicate significant differences among stages (Duncan’s multiple tests, ANOVA, P < 0.05)