Medicago arabica (L.) Huds., Fabaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Medicago cordata Desr.; Medicago maculata Sibth.; Medicago polymorpha var. arabica L.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: he ban mu xu

English: spotted bur medick, spotted bur-clover, spotted medic, spotted medick

French: luzerne d'Arabie, luzerne maculée

Spanish: trébol de carretilla, trébol de manchado

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Annual herbs, 40-65 cm. Stems decumbent or spreading, longitudinally ridged, sparsely hairy, hairs simple and multi-cellular-glandular. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, 5-12 mm, incised, with 6-8 deep lobes; petioles slender, 2-8 (-12) cm, 2-5 times as long as peduncle; leaflets usually with a dark colored patch at center, obcordate to broadly obovate, 7-25 (-30) x 14-32 mm, sparsely hairy abaxially, glabrous adaxially, base broadly cuneate, margin subentire or shallowly serrate, apex rounded or emarginate. Flowers (1 or) 2-5 (or 6) in axillary racemes; peduncles with a terminal cusp; bracts ca. 1 mm; pedicels longer than or equal to bracts. Corolla yellow, 5-6.5 mm; standard broadly obovate, retuse. Legume cylindric to globose, 5-7 mm, tightly coiled in 3-7 spirals, turning counterclockwise, 5-8 radial veins on coil face, spines 13-15 in each row. Seed yellowish brown, oblong-elliptic, 2.5-3.5 x 1.2-1.5 mm, smooth"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In China, "rather moist stream banks, grasslands"  (Flora of China online).  In New Zealand, "waste places, thin pasture, lawns; locally common"  (Webb et al., 1988; p. 662).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canary Islands, northern Africa, Europe, western Asia (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más a Tierra (Robinson Crusoe Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John (2011)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Isla Más Afuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island)	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)
Chile (offshore islands) Juan Fernández Islands	Morro Juanango	introduced invasive	Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido (2006) (p. 555)
New Zealand (offshore islands) Kermadec Islands	Kermadec Islands	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 662)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011) Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	National Herbarium of New South Wales (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	Queensland	introduced	ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre (2011)
Canada Province of British Columbia	Canada (British Columbia)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	introduced cultivated	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 185)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 662)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Also reported from
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
United States (continental except west coast) United States (other states)	United States (other states)	introduced	U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. (2011)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Medicago arabica is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Medicago arabica as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Medicago arabica may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Atkinson, Rachel/Sawyer, John. 2011. Naturalized species in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, Chile. Unpublished spreadsheet.

Danton, Philippe/Perrier, Christophe/Martinez Reyes, Guido. 2006. Nouveau catalogue de la flore vaculaire de l'archipel Juan Fernández (Chile) [Nuevo catálogo de la flora vacular del Archipélago Juan Fernández (Chile)]. Acta Bot. Gallica 153(4):399-587.

ILDIS Co-ordinating Centre. 2011. International Legume Database & Information Service. Online searchable database.

Missouri Botanical Garden. 2011. TROPICOS. Online searchable database.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

National Herbarium of New South Wales. 2011. PlantNet: New South Wales Flora online. The Plant Information Network System of the Botanic Gardens Trust Version 2.0. Online resource.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Nat. Res. Cons. Serv. 2011. The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).