Medicago lupulina L.
Diagnostic description:
A pubescent annual or short-lived perennial. Stems ascending; 10 to 50 cm long. Leaves trifoliate; leaflets 3 to 20 mm long, rounded to obovate, wedge-shaped, or more or less rhombic; toothed at the apex. Stipules almost entire or toothed. Flowers yellow, 1 to 3 mm long; in dense, rounded racemes 3 to 8 mm long, containing from 10 to 50 flowers. Pedicels 2 to 4 cm long. Seed pods kidney shaped, 1.5 to 3 mm across; hairless or glandular-pubescent; black when ripe; containing 1 or 2 seeds.
Distribution:
Local: Rare in Gibraltar. Mainly found as a weed in cultivated areas, on imported soil.
Global: Found in most of Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Ecology:
Flowers from March, April to May (October).
Habitat:
Grows on damp, grassy places, ditches and waysides.