Relatives
Medicago arabica All. - Arabian Medick, Spotted Medick.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Medicago L.Synonyms.
Medicago maculata Willd., Medicago cordata Desr., Medicago maculata Sibth., Medicago polymorpha L. var. arabica L.Morphology and biology.
Annual herbaceous plant. Stems 50-60 cm tall, slender, quadrangular, branched from the base and in the upper part. Stems, stipules and petioles covered with abundant, soft, articulate hairs. Leaflets glabrous, up to 2.5 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, broadly triangular-cuneate, with dark spot at the base. Inflorescences racemes of 1-5 flowers. Corolla 4-5 mm long, yellow, pod globose-cylindrical, glabrous, 5-8 mm diameter, with 3-7 twists, with 2 rows of long, usually curved prickles. External margin of the pod with 4 ribs and 3 furrows between. Flowers in May, fruits in June. Autogamous plant. 2n=16.Distribution.
Crimea, Caucasus.Ecology.
Meadows, shrubberies, forest fringes; mainly on damp sandy soils.Economic value.
Plant of a great interest as a forage owing to rich foliage. Develops significant green mass of good forage quality.References:
Grossheim AA. 1945. Medick - Medicago L. In: Shishkin BK., ed. 1945. Flora URSS. V.11. P.129-176. (In Russian).Grossheim AA. 1952. Flora of Caucasus. 2nd ed. V.5. P.177-192. (In Russian).
Sinskaya EN. 1950. Medick. In: Cultivated flora of the USSR. V.13, No.1. P.7-344. (In Russian).
Vassilchenko IT. 1987. Medick - Medicago L. In: Fedorov AA., Tzvelev NN., eds. Flora of the European part of the USSR. V.6. P.187-195. (In Russian).
Lesins KA., Lesins I. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 228 p.