Medicago lupulina

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Medicago lupulina
MedicagoLupulina02.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Medicago
Species:
M. lupulina
Binomial name
Medicago lupulina
L.

Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago , or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers ( Trifolium ) and sweet clover ( Melilotus ). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alfalfa. [1]

Contents

Names

The generic name Medicago is derived, via Latin medica, from Ancient Greek Μηδική (Mēdikḗ) "Median", because alfalfa was believed to have been introduced from the region of Media (now in Iran) in antiquity. The specific name lupulina means "wolf-like", and refers to the hop, or willow-wolf. Its scientific name is a translation of the common name hop clover (or hop-clover), which is also used for several members of the genus Trifolium. [2] [3]

Also spelled "medic" or "meddick", the plant is known by a number of alternate names, including nonesuch, black nonesuch, black medic clover, hop clover, hop medic, black clover, black hay, blackweed, English trefoil, hop trefoil, and yellow trefoil. Some of these names are also applied to wildflowers of the related genera Trifolium and Melilotus. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Description

Medicago lupulina is an annual or short-lived perennial plant, [8] : 168  growing each year from adventitious buds on the roots. Mature plants measure from 15 to 80 cm (6 to 31 in) in height, with fine stems often lying flat at the beginning of growth and later erecting. The leaves are compound, each with three oval leaflets, carried on a short petiole; the center leaflet usually has a longer petiole. [9] [2] The leaflets are hairy, toothed toward the tip, and differ from those of the similar Trifolium dubium in that they end in a short point. [10] : 148  [8] : 175 

Black medick has small (2–3 mm) [8] yellow flowers grouped in tight bunches (compact racemes). On larger plants the flower heads may reach 8 mm (5⁄16 in) or more. [2] The fruit is a single-seeded pod, 1.5 to 3 mm in diameter, [8] that does not open upon maturation, but hardens and turns black when ripe. Each pod contains a single amber-colored seed. [9]

Like other legumes, the roots of black medick contain nodules hosting nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Plants that survive for more than one year may develop a deep tap root. [9]

Distribution

A native of the old world, black medick is found throughout Europe, north Africa, the Near East, and most of Asia, including India, China, and Korea. It is naturalized in central Asia, Japan, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, and much of South America. [4] Black medick is found throughout the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. [5]

Black medick thrives in dry to moist, well-drained soils [11] containing sand, loam, or clay, and is a pioneer plant, often growing on disturbed ground. It grows in alkaline, neutral, and mildly acidic conditions. It does not grow in shady areas. [12] Black medick grows well in limestone soils and on coastal sand dunes, where it suffers less competition from the other plants, and as such is found on many islands, such as Taiwan, the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. [4] It is resistant to cold and can be found on mountains up to 1,800 meters.[ citation needed ]

Uses

Black medick is a good source of nectar for bees to use to make honey. It is frequently found in natural pastures, and may be planted in order to create artificial meadows, especially on dry land. The presence of black medick in large concentrations as a lawn weed may indicate that the soil is poor in nitrogen. However, because black medick and other clovers fix nitrogen in the soil, this deficiency can improve over time due to the presence of these plants. [4] [13]

Black medick is sometimes used as a fodder plant. Its hardiness and ability to grow in poor soils, as well as its tendency to fix nitrogen in the soil, make black medick a good choice for pasturage, although its fodder value is limited. [4] It is grazed by sheep but is not very palatable to cattle. [14]

Similar plants

Black medick may be confused with other plants that have three leaflets and small yellow flowers, such as hop trefoil (Trifolium campestre), large hop trefoil (T. aureum), lesser hop trefoil (T. dubium), and yellow woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta).

Photographs

Illustrations

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clover</span> Genus of legumes

Clover, also called trefoil, are plants of the genus Trifolium, consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with highest diversity in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics. They are small annual, biennial, or short-lived perennial herbaceous plants, typically growing up to 30 centimetres (12 in) tall. The leaves are trifoliate, with stipules adnate to the leaf-stalk, and heads or dense spikes of small red, purple, white, or yellow flowers; the small, few-seeded pods are enclosed in the calyx. Other closely related genera often called clovers include Melilotus and Medicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forage</span> Plant material eaten by grazing livestock

Forage is a plant material eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.

<i>Trifolium repens</i> Flowering plant, bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium repens, the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe, including the British Isles, and central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated types of clover. It has been widely introduced worldwide as a forage crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas of North America, Australia and New Zealand. The species includes varieties often classed as small, intermediate and large, according to height, which reflects petiole length. The term 'white clover' is applied to the species in general, 'Dutch clover' is often applied to intermediate varieties, and 'ladino clover' is applied to large varieties.

<i>Medicago truncatula</i> Species of legume

Medicago truncatula, the barrelclover, strong-spined medick, barrel medic, or barrel medick, is a small annual legume native to the Mediterranean region that is used in genomic research. It is a low-growing, clover-like plant 10–60 centimetres (3.9–23.6 in) tall with trifoliate leaves. Each leaflet is rounded, 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long, often with a dark spot in the center. The flowers are yellow, produced singly or in a small inflorescence of two to five together; the fruit is a small, spiny pod.

Hop-clover is a common name for several different plants and may refer to:

<i>Trifolium aureum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium aureum, known by the various common names large hop trefoil, large trefoil, large hop clover, golden clover or hop clover, is a species of flowering plant native to much of Eurasia.

<i>Trifolium arvense</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium arvense, commonly known as the hare's-foot clover, rabbitfoot clover, stone clover or oldfield clover, is a flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae. This species of clover is native to most of Europe, excluding the Arctic zone, and western Asia, in plain or mid-mountain habitats up to 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) altitude. It grows in dry sandy soils, both acidic and alkaline, soil with dry-mesic conditions and is typically found at the edge of fields, in wastelands, at the side of roads, on sand dunes, and opportunistically in vineyards and orchards when they are not irrigated.

<i>Trifolium campestre</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium campestre, commonly known as hop trefoil, field clover and low hop clover, is a species of flowering plant native to Europe and western Asia, growing in dry, sandy grassland habitats, fields, woodland margins, roadsides, wastelands and cultivated land. The species name campestre means "of the fields".

<i>Melilotus officinalis</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Melilotus officinalis, known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia.

<i>Melilotus albus</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Melilotus albus, known as honey clover, white melilot (UK), Bokhara clover (Australia), white sweetclover (US), and sweet clover, is a nitrogen-fixing legume in the family Fabaceae. Melilotus albus is considered a valuable honey plant and source of nectar and is often grown for forage. Its characteristic sweet odor, intensified by drying, is derived from coumarin.

<i>Trifolium incarnatum</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium incarnatum, known as crimson clover or Italian clover, is a species of short-growing flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to most of Europe. It has been introduced to other areas, including the United States and Japan.

<i>Trifolium dubium</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Trifolium dubium, the lesser trefoil, suckling clover, little hop clover or lesser hop trefoil, is a flowering plant in the pea and clover family Fabaceae. This species is generally accepted as the primary plant to represent the traditional Irish shamrock.

<i>Medicago polymorpha</i> Species of legume

Medicago polymorpha is a plant species of the genus Medicago. It is native to the Mediterranean basin but is found throughout the world. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium medicae, which is capable of nitrogen fixation. Common names include California burclover, toothed bur clover, toothed medick and burr medic.

<i>Medicago arborea</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae

Medicago arborea is a flowering plant species in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. Common names include moon trefoil, shrub medick, alfalfa arborea, and tree medick. It is found throughout Europe and especially in the Mediterranean basin, primarily on rocky shores among shrubby vegetation. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti, which is capable of nitrogen fixation. It is the only member of the genus Medicago which is used as an ornamental. M. arborea is sometimes misidentified as Cytisus, which it resembles.

<i>Medicago orbicularis</i> Species of legume

Medicago orbicularis is a plant species found throughout the Mediterranean basin and along the European Black Sea coast. It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium medicae, which is capable of nitrogen fixation. Common names include blackdisk medick, button clover, button medick, and round-fruited medick.

<i>Melilotus indicus</i> Species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae

Melilotus indicus, sometimes incorrectly written Melilotus indica, is a yellow-flowered herb native to northern Africa, Europe and Asia, but naturalized throughout the rest of the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trifolieae</span> Tribe of legumes

The tribe Trifolieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae. It is included within the inverted repeat-lacking clade (IRLC). All of the members of this tribe are trifoliate.

Phyllonorycter medicaginella is a moth of the family Gracillariidae. It is found from Denmark and Poland to Belgium, the Alps, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

<i>Clavibacter insidiosus</i> Species of bacterium

Clavibacter insidiosus is a species of Clavibacter. It causes bacterial wilt, with its most notable host being Medicago sativa (alfalfa). Other species in the Medicago genus are also known to be hosts such as Medicago falcata. Additionally, Lotus corniculatus, Melilotus alba, Onobrychis viciifolia, and Trifolium sp. are known hosts.

References

  1. ↑ Venning, Frank D. (1984), Wildflowers of North America, Golden Field Guide, St. Martin's Press
  2. 1 2 3 "Medicago lupulina", Flora of Wisconsin, Wisconsin State Herbarium, University of Wisconsin–Madison , retrieved 14 June 2015
  3. ↑ "Medicago lupulina", Plants of Wisconsin, Robert W. Freckmann Arboretum, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, archived from the original on 2013-05-10, retrieved 2015-06-15
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Medicago lupulina", Germplasm Resources Information Network , Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture , retrieved 14 June 2015
  5. 1 2 "Medicago lupulina", Integrated Taxonomic Information System , retrieved 14 June 2015
  6. ↑ James Britten (1886), A Dictionary of English Plant-names, vol. 15, Richard Clay & Sons
  7. ↑ Jacobson, Arthur Lee (1995), "Black Medick"
  8. 1 2 3 4 Stace, C. A. (2010), New Flora of the British Isles (Third ed.), Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, ISBN   9780521707725
  9. 1 2 3 "Black Medic", Forage Information System, Oregon State University , retrieved 14 June 2015[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ Blamey, M.; Fitter, R.; Fitter, A (2003), Wild flowers of Britain and Ireland: The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora., London: A & C Black, ISBN   978-1408179505
  11. ↑ "Online Atlas of the British and Irish Flora: Medicago lupulina". Biological Records Centre and Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Medicago lupulina", Plants for a Future , retrieved 14 June 2015
  13. ↑ Clark, Andy (ed.), "Medics" (PDF), Managing Cover Crops Profitably (3rd ed.), Beltsville, Maryland: Sustainable Agriculture Network, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05, retrieved 14 June 2015
  14. ↑ Heuzé, V.; Thiollet, H.; Tran, G.; Hassoun, P.; Lebas, F. (2018), "Black medic (Medicago lupulina)", Feedipedia, a programme by INRA, CIRAD, AFZ and FAO
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