Medicago truncatula, Gaertner

Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M. & Webb, D. A., 1981, Flora Europaea. Volume 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae, Cambridge University Press : 156

22. M. truncatula Gaertner , Fruct. Sem. Pl. 2: 350 (1791)

( M. tribuloides Desr. ).

Sparsely villous annual up to 50 cm. Leaflets obovate or obcordate, cuneate, denticulate near the apex; stipules ovate-lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, incisedentate to laciniate in the lower half. Racemes 1- to 3(-5)- flowered. Corolla 5-6 mm. Legume 5-8 mm in diameter, in a spiral of 3-6 turns, cylindrical, nearly always sparsely villous, spiny; transverse veins scarcely anastomosing, joining a very thick submarginal vein separated from the slender but distinct marginal vein by the groove; spines up to more than half as long as the diameter of the legume, curved or uncinate, each arising partly from the marginal and partly from the submarginal vein. Mediterranean region extending to Portugal and W. France. BI Co Cr Ga G r Hs It Ju Lu Sa Si?Tu.