Class
Order
Family
Genus
Classification
Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Medicago nigra (L.) Krock. (1790)
Synonymy:
- ≡ Medicago polymorpha var. nigra L., Sp. Pl. 779, 1200 (1753)
- = Medicago polymorpha L., Sp. Pl. 779 (1753)
- = Medicago hispida Gaertn., Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2, 349 (1791)
Vernacular Name(s):
bur medick
Description
Procumbent, annual herb; stems ± glabrous. Lvs almost glabrous or sparsely hairy on petioles and undersurface of leaflets, glabrous above; petioles c. 5–40 mm long; leaflets mostly obovate, acute to obtuse or emarginate, obtuse to cuneate at base, serrate in upper 1/2, uniform in colour, c. 5–15 mm long; terminal petiolule (1.5)–3–7 mm long; lateral petiolules < 1.5 mm long; stipules ovate, acuminate, laciniate. Infl. 1–5-flowered; peduncles ± glabrous, < = or > petioles; pedicels < calyx tube. Calyx usually sparsely hairy; calyx teeth triangular, acuminate, ± =, or > tube. Corolla yellow, 3–5 mm long. Pod ± glabrous, coiled in 11/2–6 turns, without a hole in the centre, distinctly reticulately veined and with a double row of spines at the margin (spines sometimes reduced to tubercles only), 4–8 mm diam. (excluding spines), few-seeded; seeds yellow to brown, c. 3 mm long.
[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]
Biostatus
Exotic
Phenology
Flowering: Jul.–May.
Bibliography
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington. [as Medicago polymorpha L. ]
Gaertner, J. 1790–1792: De Fructibus et Seminibus Plantarum. Vol. 2. Stuttgart.
Linnaeus, C. 1753: Species Plantarum. Impensis Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm.
