Relatives
Medicago denticulata Willd. - Denticulate Medick.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Medicago L.Synonyms.
Medicago polymorfa var. vulgaris (Benth.) Shin.Morphology and biology.
Annual herbaceous plant. Stems 20-60 cm tall, decumbent. Stipules deeply pectinately divided. Leaflets obovate, without spot. Raceme lax, of 1-8 flowers, on the stipe shorter than or equal to floral leaf. Corolla yellow, 3-4 mm long. Pod discoid, both sides flat, 4-6 mm diameter, with 1.5-2.5 twists, prickles straight, as long as half of pod diameter. Flowers in April, fruits in June. Autogamous plant. 2n=16.Distribution.
Mountain Crimea, Caucasus, mountain massifs of Central Asia.Ecology.
On sands and loose clayey soils, weed near roads and crops. Up to lower, rarely middle, montane zone.Economic value.
May be used as forage and green-manure.References:
Vassilchenko IT. 1949. Medick, the best forage plant. In: Acta Inst. Bot. Acad. Sci. URSS. Ser.1. V.8. Leningrad. P.7-240.Galushko AI. 1980. Flora of the North Caucasus: Handbook. V.2. 352 p. (In Russian).
Goncharov PL., Lubenets PA. 1985. Biological aspects of medick cultivation. Novosibirsk: Nauka. 253 p. (In Russian).
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).
Khasanov OKh. 1972. Wild medicks of Central Asia. Tashkent: FAN. 169 p. (In Russian).
Lesins KA., Lesins I. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 228 p.