HerbWildAnnualMedicinal

Medicago lupulina L.

Black medick

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Description

Medicago lupulina is a small annual or short-lived perennial herb, usually 10–50 cm tall, with a prostrate to ascending growth habit. Stems are slender, branched, and often hairy. Leaves are trifoliolate, alternate, and resemble clover leaves. Each leaflet is obovate to rounded, usually 5–20 mm long, with a slightly toothed margin and a small notch at the tip. Flowers are bisexual, small, yellow, and arranged in dense rounded clusters on long axillary stalks. Fruits are small, kidney-shaped, coiled pods that turn black at maturity and contain a single seed.

Diagnostic Characters

Vegetative

Small clover-like herb. Three rounded leaflets. Prostrate growth.

Floral

Small yellow flower clusters.

Fruit & Seed

Black coiled pods.

Distribution

Native range: Native to Europe, Mediterranean region.

In Pakistan: Naturalized in Pakistan, India, Many temperate regions.

Phenology

Flowering

Fruiting

Flowering: March–June Fruiting: May–August

Ethnobotany & Uses

Agricultural Importance

Used as Pasture plant, Nitrogen-fixing cover crop.

Medicinal Importance

Traditional uses include Digestive disorders, Anti-inflammatory applications. Contains Flavonoids, Coumarins.

UniFlora AI Assistant

Ask about Black medick

Hello! I'm UniFlora AI. Ask me anything about Black medick (*Medicago lupulina*) — identification tips, flowering season, uses, campus locations, or taxonomy.

Where it grows on campus

This species is on the campus floristic list but was not pinned during the GPS mapping survey, so it has no map records yet.

Taxonomic Notes

Medicago lupulina differs from true clovers (Trifolium) by Small yellow flowers, Coiled single-seeded fruits, UniFlora Field Recognition Tip 🌿. Look for 🍀 Clover-like leaves, 🌼 Tiny yellow flowers, ⚫ Black mature pods.