Summary ⁷

Medicago lupulina (black medic, sometimes spelled medick or meddick; also known as black hay, black nonsuch, blackweed, etc.) is a summer annual or perennial plant usually considered a weed. It has a tap root. Like other legumes, it has three leaflets; its center leaflet is on a separate petiole. As with other legumes, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, known as rhizobia, are found in nodules on the roots.

Comments ⁸

Black Medic looks like a sprawling Trifolium sp. (Clover) with small yellow flowerheads, however it is more closely related to Medicago sativa (Alfalfa). This is because their seedpods have a similar structure, although the seedpods of Alfalfa are more coiled than those of Black Medic. Other species in this genus include Medicago arabica (Spotted Medic) and Medicago orbicularis (Round Medic). These latter species are rare in Illinois and their seedpods are strongly coiled and spiny. Generally, all of these species have been introduced from Eurasia as a source of forage for livestock or to replenish agricultural soil with nitrogen.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Steve Chilton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/73779416@N00/291490345
2. (c) Biopix, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.biopix.com/photos/JCS-Medicago-lupulina-61199.JPG
3. (c) "<a href=""http://www.knps.org"">Kentucky Native Plant Society</a>. Scanned by <a href=""http://www.omnitekinc.com/"">Omnitek Inc</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=melu_001_avd.tif
4. (c) "<a href=""http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/WLI/"">USDA NRCS Wetland Science Institute</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=melu_002_ahp.tif
5. (c) "<a href=""http://nt.ars-grin.gov/"">ARS Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory</a>. France.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=melu_004_ahp.tif
6. (c) "<a href=""http://www.wli.nrcs.usda.gov"">NRCS National Wetland Team, Fort Worth, TX</a>.", some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=melu_007_avd.tif
7. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicago_lupulina
8. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447112

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• African Plants - a photo guide
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
• eFloras.org
• Flora Digital de Portugal
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• NBN Atlas
• New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online
• 日本のレッドデータ検索システム
• 植物和名−学名インデックス YList

Range Map

(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNat Map