Medicago sativa |
Medicago turbinata |
|
---|---|---|
alfalfa, lucerne |
southern medic |
|
Habit | Plants perennial, 20–80 cm, glabrous to puberulent. | |
Stems | decumbent to erect, glabrous to puberulent. |
|
Leaves | sub-palmate; leaflets narrowly lanceolate to obovate; length > width, 8–29 mm, bases cuneate; margins distally serrate; veins prominent; tips truncate to rounded; surfaces pubescent; petioles 3–15 mm; petiolules 1–6 mm; stipules 6–14 mm; margins entire to sharply toothed. |
|
Inflorescences | 8–30-flowered; ovoid to oblong; peduncles 8–40 mm; pedicels 1–3 mm. |
|
Flowers | calyces 4–5.5 mm; corollas 8–10 mm, violet or variegated yellow-violet. |
|
Fruits | spirally coiled 2–3 turns, rarely sickle-shaped, with doughnut-like hole visible in center of coils, 3–5 mm, villous, unarmed. |
|
Seeds | several, reniform, 1–2.5 × 1–1.5 mm, yellow; brownish; greenish yellow or violet-brown. |
|
2n | =16, 32. |
|
Medicago sativa |
Medicago turbinata |
|
Distribution | ||
Discussion | Sandy or rocky areas, riparian areas, fields, roadsides, disturbed areas. Flowering Jun–Aug. 0–1500 m. BR, Casc, Col, CR, ECas, Lava, Sisk, WV. CA, ID, NV, WA; worldwide. Exotic. Medicago sativa is the only Oregon species with purple or variegated flowers and with coiled, non-spiny fruits containing several seeds. It also has the largest flowers (approaching 1 cm in length) and more flowers per inflorescence than most of our other species. Medicago sativa is commonly used as a cover crop or green manure. |
|
Source | Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 709 Nurul Khalib, Melanie Link-Perez |
|
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Medicago sativa ssp. sativa | |
Web links |
|