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)

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.

Black Medick (Medicago lupulina)

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.

Similar Species

No Similar Species