Common name: Burr Medic
Medicago polymorpha L. APNI* Synonyms: Medicago polymorpha var. vulgaris (Benth.) Shinners APNI*
Medicago polymorpha var. brevispina (Benth.) Heyn APNI*
Medicago denticulata Willd. APNI*
Description: Decumbent or ascending annual, glabrous or pubescent; branches to 40 cm long.
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets obovate to obcordate; terminal leaflets 8–27 mm long, 7–20 mm wide, entire or toothed towards apex, upper surface glabrous, sometimes with darker flecks or a basal darker patch; stipules deeply incised, glabrous or hairy on lower surface.
Inflorescences 1–10-flowered; peduncle shorter than to twice as long as subtending petiole. Calyx teeth longer than tube. Corolla yellow; standard 3–5 mm long; keel shorter than wings.
Pod cylindrical to truncate-conical or discoid, 2–10 mm long, 2.5–8.5 mm diam., coils 1.5–7; spines to 18 in a row, to 4 mm long, sometimes spineless or tuberculate; seeds 3–11.
Distribution and occurrence: Native of Medit.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *CT, *ST, *NWS, *CWS, *SWS, *NWP, *SWP, *NFWP, *SFWP, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *Tas. *W.A. *S.A. *N.T.
Text by P. H. Weston
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 2 (1991)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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