Fabaceae
Medicago

Medicago laciniata (L.) Mill.

First published in Gard. Dict., ed. 8.: n.° 5 (1768)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Macaronesia to Ethiopia and Tanzania, S. Africa, W. & SW. Asia to W. Himalaya. It is an annual and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, various authors. Flora Zambesiaca 3:7. 2003

Morphology General Habit
Spreading annual herb, branching from the base.
Morphology Leaves
Leaves petiolate; leaflets 4–15 × 2–7 mm, narrowly cuneate-obovate or cuneate-oblong, truncate to retuse and apiculate at the apex, denticulate in the upper half or deeply toothed or irregularly laciniate, glabrous above, sparsely pilose beneath; petioles up to 2.5 cm long; rhachis up to 5 mm long; stipules laciniate, with simple hairs beneath.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence 1–2-flowered; peduncle produced into an arista beyond the terminal flower.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers very small, with pedicels shorter than the calyx tube.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 3–4 mm long, sparsely appressed-hairy; teeth equal, shorter than the tube, hairy.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla yellow, twice as long as the calyx; standard ovate, longer than the keel; wings shorter than the keel; keel blunt, oblong.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod cylindrical to ellipsoid, usually glabrous, spiny; coils 3–7, turning anticlockwise, the broadest coil 3–5 mm in diameter, not strongly appressed to each other; surface of coils with numerous S-shaped radial veins, not anastomosing before joining the submarginal vein near to the dorsal suture; grooves between dorsal suture and submarginal vein of pod narrow (invisible in side view of pod); spines 2–4 mm long, with 2-rooted base, one root arising in the dorsal suture, the other in the submarginal vein, the longer ones hooked at the tip, divergent and intermeshing with those of adjoining coils.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds 5–10 per pod, c. 3 mm long, oblong to subreniform, yellowish, smooth.
[FZ]

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Spreading annual, subglabrous or sparsely pilose
Morphology Leaves Leaflets
Leaflets cuneate-obovate or cuneate-oblong, up to 12 x 5 mm, strongly toothed; stipules laciniate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes 1–2-flowered
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla yellow, 4–5 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod up to 5 mm in diam., in a globose coil of c. 5 turns, glabrous; transverse veins sigmoid, sparingly branched; submarginal vein broad, separated from the flat or convex marginal vein by a narrow groove; spines up to 3 mm long, hooked.
Distribution
N1–3 N Africa to SW Asia; widely introduced in other areas.
Ecology
Altitude range 1150–1725 m.
[FSOM]

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Morphology General Habit
Spreading annual, subglabrous or sparsely pilose, especially on the petioles and lower surface of the leaflet-midribs.
Morphology Leaves
Stipules laciniate; petiole up to 2 cm. long; rhachis above lateral leaflets up to 5 mm. long; leaflets narrowly cuneate-obovate or cuneate-oblong, up to 12 by 5 mm., strongly toothed.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Racemes 1–2-flowered; peduncle wiry, ± 2 cm., pedicel ± 2 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Calyx 3–4 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Corolla yellow, 4–5 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Pod ± 5-seeded, glabrous, in a globose coil of ± 5 turns, ± 5 mm. across excluding the spines, its finely veined sides hidden by the reduced terminal whorls, glabrous; spines hooked, up to 3 mm. long in 2 rows on the thickened suture.
Figures
Fig. 144/1–10, p. 1038.
Habitat
Pastures, especially where seasonally waterlogged; 1500–2100 m.; rainfall 600–900 mm.
Distribution
Somali Republic (N.), Socotra, a form in South Africafrom Morocco to the Punjabwidely introduced in other areas with a more or less “Mediterranean” climate K1 K3 K4 K6 T1 T2
[FTEA]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Montane woodland, Afromontane grassland, Mediterranean/Sahara regional transition zone; grassland.
Morphology General Habit
Annual, Not climbing, Herb
Vernacular
Cut-leaved Medick, Lyutzerna Razdelnolistnaya, Tattered Medick
[ILDIS]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
Forage, Weed
[ILDIS]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0