Medicago truncatula fruit1 Denman - 30067299553

Description:

Summary[edit] Description: English: Introduced cool-season annual sparsely-hairy herbaceous legume, with branches to 50 cm long. Leaves are 3-foliolate; leaflets obovate to obcordate; terminal leaflet 6–25 mm long, 5–20 mm wide, toothed towards apex, sometimes with darker flecks or a central darker patch. Flowerheads are 1–4-flowered; flowers are yellow and 4.5–7 mm long. Pods are cylindrical to truncate-conical, spiny, 4.5–11 mm long and with 5–8 coils. A native of the Mediterranean and North Africa. Persists in areas considered too arid for sub clover. High levels of hard seed contribute to persistence. Provides high quality grazing. Helps maintain nitrogen fertility in cropping rotations. Generally inferior to other temperate legumes in higher-rainfall areas. Lush and/or pure stands can cause animal health problems. Prefer neutral to alkaline soils. Will not tolerate soils with pH(Ca) 5%. Date: 7 October 2015, 11:31:21. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/73840284@N04/30067299553/. Author: Macleay Grass Man.