Key to Medicago

View taxon page for Medicago

(For a list of species in Medicago, use the above link.)

Jepson Manual glossary definitions can be seen by moving your cursor over words underlined with dots.

1. Fruit 1-seeded, 

reniform 

Kidney-shaped; often pertaining to a leaf in which the blade base on both sides of the petiole is rounded and concave.

, not prickly, black; flower 2–3 mm ..... M. lupulina

1' Fruit 1- to several-seeded, spirally coiled (or straight to sickle-shaped), prickly or not, tan or gray to black; flower 2–11 mm

2. Perennial herb, generally 

erect 

Upright; vertically oriented.

; corolla 6–11 mm, violet or violet- to yellow-green (yellow); fruit not prickly ..... M. sativa

2' Annual, generally 

prostrate 

Lying flat on the ground.

, 

decumbent 

lying mostly flat on the ground but with tips curving up.

, or low; corolla generally 2–7 mm, yellow to orange-yellow; fruit prickly or not

3. Fruit not prickly, ± 1–1.5 cm wide

4. Stipules generally divided ± to base into a cluster of bristles ..... [M. orbicularis]

4' Stipules 

dentate 

Having margins with sharp, relatively coarse teeth pointing outward, not tipward.

..... [M. scutellata]

3' Fruit generally prickly, < 1 cm wide

5. Stipules generally 

entire 

Having margins that are continuous and smooth (i.e., without teeth, lobes, etc.).

to ± dentate; plant hairs generally dense

6. Leaves densely hairy; fruit sparsely hairy ..... M. minima

6' Leaves, fruit hairy, often glandular-hairy (or fruit glabrous) ..... M. rigidula

5' Stipules deeply toothed or cut; plant hairs generally ± 0 to sparse (strigose in M. praecox)

7. Leaflet generally with dark central spot, obovate to obcordate, length ± = or 1–2 × width; 

leaf 

Organ arising from a stem, generally composed of a stalk (petiole) and a flat, expanded, green, photosynthetic area (blade); distinguished from a leaflet by the presence in its axil of a bud, branch, thorn, or flower; sometimes with lateral, basal appendages (stipules); either simple (toothed, lobed, or dissected but not divided into leaflets) or compound (divided into leaflets).

 

pinnate 

Feather-like; pertaining to veins, lobes, leaflets, or other structures arranged in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane) along either side of an axis; a leaf is odd-pinnate if there is a terminal leaflet, even-pinnate if there is not, and either odd- or even-pinnate may be 1-pinnate (blade divided into primary leaflets), 2-pinnate (primary leaflets divided into secondary leaflets), 3-pinnate (secondary leaflets divided into tertiary leaflets), etc.

or subpalmate; stipules generally cut 1/4–1/2 width

8. Leaflet generally obcordate, length ± = width; leaf pinnate or ± 

palmate 

More than two structures or parts (e.g., veins, lobes, or leaflets) radiating from a common point in two dimensions (i.e., in one plane).

; fruit a loose spiral, glabrous ..... M. arabica

8' Leaflet obovate (obcordate), length 1–2 × width; leaf pinnate; fruit generally a tight spiral, sparsely (densely) hairy ..... M. truncatula

7' Leaflet without dark central spot, generally wedge-shaped or obovate to obcordate, length 1–2 × width; leaf pinnate; stipules generally cut ± >= 1/2 width

9. Leaflet generally 10–20 mm, generally glabrous; corolla 3.5–6 mm; CA-FP; common ..... M. polymorpha

9' Leaflet 3–10 mm, generally 

strigose 

With stiff, straight, sharp, appressed hairs.

; corolla 2.5–4 mm; NCoRI, CaRF, SN, SnFrB, SCo; uncommon ..... M. praecox

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