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Publication #SP 37

 

Black Medic, Medicago lupulina L.1

D. W. Hall, V. V. Vandiver, and J. A. Ferrell2

Classification

Common Name: Black Medic

Scientific Name: Medicago lupulina L.

Family: Leguminosae (Fabaceae), Bean Family

Seedling

The cotyledons are 4-9 mm long, dull green and pale beneath (Figure 1). The leaves have a few short hairs. The first leaf is simple; all other leaves are trifoliate. The leaf stalk is hairy with stipules at its base.

Figure 1. 

Seedling, Black Medic, Medicago lupulina L.


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

Mature Plant

Black Medic is an annual, 10-40 cm long, with trailing stems that are short-hairy to smooth (Figure 2). The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are almost circular to elliptic, mostly 1-2 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, hairy and toothed. The stipules are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, usually 5-10 mm long, with smooth slightly toothed margins. The flower heads are rounded to slightly elongated with 10-50 flowers. The flower stalks are 0.5-4 cm long, and are hairy or smooth. The calyx (outermost flower part) is short-hairy with a tube 0.5 mm long, and lobes 0.6-1 mm long. The petals are yellow. The fruit is a kidney-shaped pod that is reticulate, 1-seeded, 2-3 mm in diameter, hairy or occasionally with spreading glandular hairs and nearly black at maturity. Each pod contains one gold or brown seed from 1-2 mm long.

Figure 2. 

Mature plant, Black Medic, Medicago lupulina L.


[Click thumbnail to enlarge.]

History

Medicago is derived from the Greek word medice. Medice is the Greek name of Alfalfa which is in this genus. The Latin word lupulina means hop-like, referring to the flower heads.

Habitat

M. lupulina can be found in waste areas, turf and roadsides throughout the southeastern United States and northward to Canada. It was introduced from Europe.

Biology

Black Medic is used for green fodder, green manure and hay. The seeds have some value for birds and rodents.

Footnotes

1.

This document is SP 37, one of a series of the Agronomy Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date May 1991. Revised November 2006. Reviewed January 2012. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

David W. Hall, former extension botanist, Herbarium, Florida Museum of Natural History; Vernon V. Vandiver, associate professor emeritus, Agronomy Department; Jason A. Ferrell, assistant professor, Agronomy Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.