Black Medick

(Medicago lupulina)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Western wetland flora: Field office guide to plant species. U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service, West National Technical Center.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Black Medick (Medicago lupulina L.)

Alien: Native of Europe.

Identification: Plant prostrate on the ground. Flowers yellow, small, pealike, arranged in round tight clusters. Seedpods black, twisted, and rapidly replacing flowers. Stems hairy. Leaves with 3 leaflets, each leaflet often with a small spine at the apex.

Distribution: Throughout most of North America.

Habitat: Black Medick is a weedy species of disturbed habitats including empty lots, fields, and roadsides.

Flowering period: March to December.

Similar Species: Black Medick is most likely to be confused with a species of hop clover. However the stem of Black Medick is hairy, not smooth, and the hop clovers lack the twisted black seeds characteristic of this species.

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