Little Medic

Images ©:
©Photo: (CC BY 2.5 AU) Chris Lindorff via natureshare.org.au, Photo: (CC BY 2.5 AU) Russell Best via natureshare.org.au

Medicago minima

Prostrate hairy legume with branches to 90 cm long. Blue-green trifoliate leaves made up of three oval leaflets toothed towards the tip. They can be densely hairy when young, and occasionally marked with darker flecks. Spiny burr made up of a number of coils which are easy to separate with slender grooved spines.

Details
Flora Type
Herbs
Other Common Names
Little Bur-Clover, Little Bur Medick, Little Medick, Small Medick, Woolly Bur Medick.
Distinctive Features

Two petals almost fused together to form a keel which is more or less equal in size to the winged petals. The wings of the pea flower are shorter than the keel (two petals fused to form a structure like the ridged keel of a boat).
Biology

Annual. Found on a variety of soils types on roadsides and disturbed places.It is native to the Mediterranean basin and western Asia but is found worldwide.
Native Status
Introduced
Flowering Time

Jul-Jan
Taxonomy
Phylum
Tracheophyta (Vascular Plants)
Class
Magnoliopsida (Flowering Plants)
Order
Fabales
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Medicago
Species
minima

Source: Atlas of Living Australia

Like many legumes, it forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti which is capable of nitrogen fixation. Flowers have an explosive tripping mechanism for pollination.

Interesting Facts
Native Status
Introduced