In-situ neutron diffraction has been employed to examine the effect of strain path on lattice strain evolution during monotonic and cyclic tension in an extruded Mg-8.5wt.%Al alloy. In the cyclic tension test, the maximum applied stress increased with cycle number. Lattice strain data were acquired for three grain orientations, characterized by the plane normal to the stress axis. The lattice strain in the hard {10.0} orientation, which is unfavorably oriented for both basal slip and {10.2} extension twinning, evolved linearly throughout both tests during loading and unloading. The {00.2} orientation exhibited significant relaxation associated with {10.2} extension twinning. Coupled with a linear lattice strain unloading behavior, this relaxation led to increasingly compressive residual strains in the {00.2} orientation with increasing cycle number. The {10.1} orientation is favorably oriented for basal slip, and thus showed a soft grain behavior. Microyielding occurred in the monotonic tension test and in all cycles of the cyclic test at an applied stress of ~50 MPa, indicating that strain hardening in this orientation was not completely stable from one cycle to the next. The lattice strain unloading behavior was linear in the {10.1} orientation, leading to a compressive residual strain after every cycle, which, however, did not increase systematically from one cycle to the next as in the {00.2} orientation.