Relatives
Medicago radiata L. - Ray-podded Medick.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Medicago L.Synonyms.
Trigonella radiata (L.) Boiss.Morphology and biology.
Annual herbaceous plant. Stems 10-25 cm tall, branched. Stipules lanceolate in their free parts, dentate at base. Leaflet obcuneate-ovate, 8-10 mm long, 4-6 mm wide, finely dentate at margin. Flowers solitary or in pairs on thin stalk. Corolla yellow, 4-5 mm long. Pod lunately curved, flat, glabrous, 15-20 mm long and 6-8 mm wide, dentate at external margin, with rather narrow finely dentate wing at internal one, densely radially veined, without beak, glabrous, 4-6-seeded. Seeds ovoid, 3 mm long. Flowers in May, fruits in July. Autogamous plant. 2n=16.Distribution.
Southern Transcaucasia, mountains of Central Asia.Ecology.
On dry stony and debris sites in lower montane zone.Economic value.
May be used as forage plant in mountain areas.References:
Goncharov PL., Lubenets PA. 1985. Biological aspects of medick cultivation. Novosibirsk: Nauka. 253 p. (In Russian).Grossheim AA. 1945. Fenugreek - Trigonella L. In: Shishkin BK., ed. 1945. Flora URSS. V.11. P.102-129. (In Russian).
Grossheim AA. 1952. Flora of Caucasus. 2nd ed. V.5. P.168-177. (In Russian).
Sinskaya EN. 1950. Medick. In: Cultivated flora of the USSR. V.13, No.1. P.7-344. (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.