MEDICAGO ARBOREA

Including:- Subsp. strasseri differing only in the slightly smaller and more curved

fruits and may represent native plants from Crete

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE/Subgen. MEDICAGO

Common Names:- Tree medick

Homotypic Synonyms:- Medica arborea, Rhodusia arborea, Trigonella

arborea.

Meaning:- Medicago (Gr) Median-grass, A name used by the Greek physician

and botanist Dioscorides, from a Persian name for lucerne, or medick.

Arborea (L) Tree-like, branched.

General description:- Silvery-grey, perennials, with a stout, woody stock.

Stems:-

1) 1-2(-3) m tall, much-branched.

Leaves:-

1) Alternate. Leaflets obovate, cuneate at the base, entire or denticulate at the

apex.

2) Stipules, lanceolate, entire.

Flower:-

1) 4-10 in subcapitate racemes.

2) Peduncle, equalling or exceeding subtending leaf.

3) Calyx, c. 5 mm; teeth somewhat shorter than the tube.

4) Corolla, 12-15 mm, deep yellow to orange-yellow.

Fruit:-

1) Legume, forming a flat spiral of 1/2-1 1/2 coils, 12-15 mm in diam., lacking a

submarginal vein, but with a network of anastomosing lateral veins.

Key features:-

1) Legume, spirally coiled.

2) Perennials, with a stout, woody stock.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Crevices of limestone cliffs, rocky slopes. 0-600 m. also on small islands.

Distribution:- Mediterranean region eastwards to W Anatolia. A few scattered

location across Crete, mainly in the east.

Flowering time:- Mar- June.

Photos by:- Steve Lenton