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Medicago arabica (L.) Huds.
Spotted Medic

Reference
Fl.Angl. 288 (1762)
Conservation Code
Not threatened
Naturalised Status
Alien to Western Australia
Name Status
Current

Prostrate or spreading annual, herb, to 1.2 m in diameter. Fl. yellow, Sep to Nov. Coastal areas, disturbed natural vegetation.

Amanda Spooner, Descriptive Catalogue, 17 August 2007
Image

Scientific Description

Erect, herb. Stems not spiny, glabrous. Leaves or phylloclades compound, alternate, not continuous with stem, 20(-50) mm long, glabrous, flat with recurved margins; margins entire, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves, 5-6 mm long. Pedicel present, 0.5-0.6 mm long, glabrous. Calyx 3.5-4.5 mm long, glabrous. Corolla 7-7.5 mm long, uniformly coloured, yellow, glabrous, not auriculate, keel 3.5 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten; anthers NaN (?) mm long, NaN (?) mm long. Ovary stipitate, glabrous; style 4.5 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit dehiscent (a pod or follicle) or indehiscent and not splitting into sections, 6-7 mm long, 6-7 mm wide, stipitate, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, glabrous, not beaked. Flowers in September, October and November. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Warren and Swan Coastal Plain IBRA regions.

C. Hollister and K.R. Thiele, 17 April 2024

Distribution

IBRA Regions
Geraldton Sandplains, Swan Coastal Plain, Warren.
IBRA Subregions
Geraldton Hills, Perth, Warren.
Local Government Areas (LGAs)
Armadale, Augusta Margaret River, Bayswater, Busselton, Denmark, Greater Geraldton, Manjimup, Swan.