Medicago lupulina
| Medicago lupulina | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Tribe: | Trifolieae |
| Genus: | Medicago |
| Species: | M. lupulina |
| Binomial name | |
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Medicago lupulina L. |
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Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a familiar lawn plant belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of the lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alfalfa.
The generic name, Medicago, is derived from the Greek medike (Latin medica), because alfalfa was believed to have been introduced from Medea in antiquity. The specific name, lupulina, means "wolf-like," and refers to the hop, or willow-wolf (Humulus lupulus). Its scientific name is a translation of the common name, "hop clover" (or "hop-clover"), which is also used for several members of the genus Trifolium.
Also spelled medic or meddick, the plant is known by a number of alternate names, including nonesuch, black nonesuch, black medic clover, hop clover, hop medic, black clover, black hay, blackweed, English trefoil, hop trefoil, and yellow trefoil. Some of these names are also applied to wildflowers of the related genera Trifolium and Melilotus.
Medicago lupulina is an annual or short-lived perennial plant, growing each year from adventitious buds on the roots. Mature plants measure from fifteen to eighty centimeters (32 inches) in height, with fine stems often lying flat at the beginning of growth and later erecting. The leaves are compound, each with three oval leaflets, carried on a short petiole; the center leaflet usually has a longer petiole. The leaflets are hairy, toothed toward the tip, and differ from those of the similar Trifolium dubium in that they end in a short point.
Black medick has small yellow flowers, often grouped in tight bunches, and typically measuring between two and four millimeters in diameter; but on larger plants the flowers may reach eight millimeters or more (1/3 inch).
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Wikipedia