Medicago coronata

Crown Medick

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Common name

Crown Medick

Scientific name

Medicago coronata (L.) Bartal.

Conservation status and threats

NOT protected species in Bulgaria.

The species is listed in the Red Data Book of Bulgaria to the category "Endangered"^[1].

Description and identification

Annual herb. Stems 5–20 cm high. Leaves 3-foliolate with small stipules; leaflets 5–10 mm long, 4–5 mm wide, obovate, with dense simple and glandular hairs. Flowers zygomorphic, bracts membranous, inflorescence 3–12-flowered. Sepals pubescent, teeth shorter than the tube, one is usually longer. Corolla 2.5–3.5 mm long, less than twice shorter than the calyx, yellow to pale yellow. Fruit 1–4 mm in diameter, black to blackish brown cylindrical legume, in a lax spiral of 1–2 turns, on the side surface with flat, triangular spines. Seeds 1–3, reniform, bright brown or yellowish. Fl. V–VII, fr. VII–IX. Insect pollination. Reproduction by seeds^[2].

Habitat

Dry grassy and rocky calcareous places. Fragmented, small in number and with low density populations^[3].

Distribution in Bulgaria

Valley of Struma River (Southern – Kozhuh hill), Rhodopi Mts (Eastern – Ivailovgrad, Kardzhali district – Boturche village), Thracian Lowland (Besaparski Hills); up to 200 m alt^[4].

References

[1] Ana Petrova. 2015. In: Red Data Book of the Republic of Bulgaria. Volume 1 - Plants & Fungi.

[2] Ana Petrova. 2015.

[3] Ana Petrova. 2015.

[4] Ana Petrova. 2015.

Medicago coronata на български

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