Family |
Fabaceae
Medicago lupulina
L.
Medicago lupulina L.
(Sp. Pl.: 779; 1753 – Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, Pl. CLXXX nº 3; 1969)
• Life-form & habit: Annual or short-lived perennial herb, 10–50 cm long, prostrate to ascending, often rooting at lower nodes. Stems slender, branching, and finely pubescent, forming spreading mats or loose tufts.
• Leaves: Alternate, trifoliolate; leaflets obovate to obcordate, 4–12 × 3–7 mm, finely toothed in the upper half, glabrous above, sparsely hairy beneath; terminal leaflet with a slightly longer petiolule. Stipules lanceolate, entire or faintly toothed, green and persistent.
• Inflorescence & flowers: Axillary racemes dense, 10–30-flowered, borne on slender peduncles longer than the subtending leaf. Flowers small, 2.5–4 mm long, bright yellow; standard orbicular, wings and keel shorter; calyx teeth subequal, shorter than the tube.
• Fruit: Pod coiled in a single turn, reniform, 2–3 mm in diameter, blackish-brown at maturity, wrinkled and reticulate, indehiscent, enclosing 1–2 seeds. Seeds ovoid, smooth, yellow to brownish.
• Phenology: Flowers and fruits from March to June.
• Habitat & elevation: Common in fields, roadsides, grasslands, and disturbed soils, from the coast to 2 000 m. Prefers dry, well-drained, calcareous or sandy soils; often forms part of ruderal and pasture vegetation.
• Lebanese distribution: Widespread from coastal plains to high mountains — recorded by Mouterde from Beirut, Barouk, Zahlé, Ain Dara, and Dahr el-Baïdar. Common in meadows, field edges, and pastures, particularly in spring.
• Native to: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Azores, Baleares, Baltic States, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Is., Central European Russia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Corse, Cyprus, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East Aegean Is., East European Russia, East Himalaya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Somalia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Türkiye, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, West Himalaya, Yemen (POWO).
• Introduced into: Alabama, Alaska, Alberta, Altay, Amur, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil South, British Columbia, Buryatiya, California, Cape Provinces, Chatham Is., Chile Central, Chile North, Chile South, Chita, Colombia, Colorado, Connecticut, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, Easter Is., Ecuador, Florida, Føroyar, Georgia, Greenland, Guatemala, Haiti, Hawaii, Iceland, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Irkutsk, Japan, Kansas, Kazakhstan, Kentucky, Kenya, Kermadec Is., Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, KwaZulu-Natal, Louisiana, Magadan, Maine, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mongolia, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New South Wales, New York, New Zealand North, New Zealand South, Newfoundland, Norfolk Is., North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Provinces, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ogasawara-shoto, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oman, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Peru, Philippines, Primorye, Prince Edward I., Queensland, Québec, Rhode I., Réunion, Saskatchewan, South Australia, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Tasmania, Tennessee, Texas, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uruguay, Utah, Uzbekistan, Vermont, Victoria, Virginia, Washington, West Siberia, West Virginia, Western Australia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yakutiya, Yukon (POWO).
• ⚠️ Taxonomic note: Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, is a cosmopolitan annual or short-lived perennial often mistaken for Trifolium dubium but distinguished by its coiled, one-turn pods and yellow flowers. It is a pioneer species in disturbed and nutrient-poor soils, tolerant of drought and grazing. Mouterde (1969) recorded it as abundant throughout Lebanon, thriving in pastures, dry meadows, and cultivated fallows, and noted its ecological role as a nitrogen-fixing legume improving degraded soils.