In order to select the suitable alfalfa varieties for the shade areas in vineyard of Northwest,four shasing treatments R_0,R_1,R_2,R_3( full light,60% of full light,30% of full light,10% of full light) were set in the experiment to study the growth and physiological characteristics of seven domestic and foreign alfalfa varieties. The results showed that there was a big difference in height of alfalfa among cultivars under shading; leaf area,leaf dry weight and leaf number reduced significantly with the decrease of light intensity( P < 0. 05); relative growth ratio,soluble sugar content,chlorophyll a / b decreased with the increase of shading intensity. The first harvest yield decreased significantly with the increasing shading intensity,AmeriS tand and Queen declined less than others. In summary,the suitable alfalfa cultivars for plantation were Queen,Alfalfa and AmeriS tand in the northwest area where the habitat was similar with the habitat of experimental site,but due to the relativity of shading ability,the shading intensity could not exceed 50%. In order to select the suitable alfalfa varieties for the shade areas in vineyard of Northwest, four shasing treatments R_0, R_1, R_2, R_3 (full light, 60% of full light, 30% of full light, 10% of full light) were set in the experiment to study the growth and physiological characteristics of seven domestic and foreign alfaal varieties. The results showed that there was a big difference in height of alfalfa among cultivars under shading; leaf area, leaf dry weight and leaf number reduced significantly with the decrease of light intensity (P <0. 05); relative growth ratio, soluble sugar content, chlorophyll a / b decreased with the increase of shading intensity. AmeriSand and Queen declined less than others. In summary, the suitable alfalfa cultivars for plantation were Queen, Alfalfa and AmeriS tand in the northwest area where the habitat was similar with the habitat of experimental site, but due to the relativ ity of shading ability, the shading intensity could not exceed 50%.