Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin

Medicago lupulina L.

Family: Fabaceae

black medick

[Medicago cupianiana Guss., more...]

Christopher Noll

University of Wisconsin - Madison (WIS-VP)

Open Interactive Map

Etymology: Medicago: derived from Medike, or medick, the Greek name for alfalfa, which came to Greece from Medea
Plants: sprawling to erect annual/biennial, up to 32" tall forb
Leaves: 3-parted with oval leaflets, the end leaflet stalked
Flowers: yellow, 5-parted, 1/8" long, keel (top petal) smooth, calyx not 2-lipped; inflorescence a dense, up to 1/3" roundish head with 10-50 stalkless flowers; blooms May-Sept.
Fruits: black, kidney-shaped pod with 1 seed
Habitat: disturbed sites
Conservation Status: Introduced - naturalized

Fields, pastures, lawns, roadsides, railroad corridors, ditches, gardens, waste areas, pavement cracks, gravel lots, quarries and gravel pits, clifftops and rock outcrops, clay bluffs, dry prairies, sedge meadows, beaches and lakeshores, sand dunes; low to mesic to dry-mesic woods, especially along trails and logging roads, in clearings, or on borders. This species has the tiniest flowers of any of our legumes. Found throughout the state, probably in every county, but often ignored by collectors. Introduced from Europe and first collected in 1881.