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Taxon:  Medicago arborea L.



Summary
Genus:
Medicago
Section:
Dendrotelis
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23557
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:778. 1753
Verified:
05/22/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
42 (35  active, 29  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Medicago arborea L. var. citrina Font Quer
Medicago citrina (Font Quer) Greuter
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Allan, H. H. B. et al. Flora of New Zealand. 1961-
  3. Armour, D. I. et al. 2008. Transfer of anthracnose resistance and pod coiling traits from Medicago arborea to M. sativa by sexual reproduction. Theor. Appl. Genet. 117:149-156.
  4. Botanical Society of the British Isles. BSBI taxon database (on-line resource).
  5. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  6. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  7. Greuter, W. et al., eds. Med-Checklist. 1984-
  8. Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17. 1993
  9. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
  10. Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
  11. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. 2008
  12. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  13. Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 1979 131.
  14. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Hortus third. 1976
  15. Lock, J. M. Legumes of Africa: a checklist. 1989
  16. Mabberley, D. J. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2. 1997
  17. Naudin, C. 1897. Nouvelles recherches sur les tubercules et les nodosités des légumineuses et sur leurs rapports avec ces plantes. J. Agric. Prat. 61(1):842-846.
  18. Pignatti, S. Flora d'Italia. 1982
  19. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  20. Quiros, C. F. & G. R. Bauchan. 1988. The genus Medicago and the origin of the Medicago sativa complex. In A. A. Hanson et al., eds., Alfalfa and alfalfa improvement. Agronomy 29:93-124.
  21. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  22. Sinskaya, E. N., ed. 1950. Perennial leguminous plants. Part I. Medic, sweetclover, fenugreek. Kul't. Flora SSSR 13(1):172-173.
  23. Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3267.
  24. Small, E. et al. 1981. The taxonomic value of floral characters in tribe Trigonelleae (Leguminosae), with special reference to Medicago. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1580.
  25. Small, E. 1981. A numerical analysis of major groupings in Medicago employing traditionally used characters. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1555.
  26. Small, E. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Trifolieae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
  27. Smythies, B. E. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882. 1984-1986
  28. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
  29. Vasil'chenko, I. T. 1972. Novyi rod Rhodusia Vass. iz semeistva motyl'kovykh (Papilionaceae) (Genus novum Rhodusia Vass. e familia Papilionacearum). Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast. 9:204.
Common names
English
moon trefoil –
tree medic –
tree medick –
French
amourette jaune –
luzerne arborescente –
German
Baumschneckenklee –
Portuguese
alfalfa-gigante –
Spanish
alfalfa arbórea –
Swedish
busklusern –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreeceAegean Islands 
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaNortheast Tropical AfricaEthiopia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaNew ZealandNew Zealand  
4NaturalizedEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItalySicily 
4NaturalizedEuropeSoutheastern EuropeMalta  
4NaturalizedEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
4NaturalizedEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaChile  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaUruguay  
Native
Asia-Temperate
  • WESTERN ASIA: Turkey
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Greece [Aegean Islands], Italy
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands]
  • NORTHEAST TROPICAL AFRICA: Ethiopia
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
  • NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Italy [Sicily], Malta
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: France, Portugal
Southern America
  • SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Chile, Uruguay
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodpotential as forage Sinskaya, E. N., ed. 1950. Perennial leguminous plants. Part I. Medic, sweetclover, fenugreek. Kul't. Flora SSSR 13(1):172-173.
Environmentalerosion control Small, E. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Trifolieae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
Environmentalornamental Huxley, A., ed. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 1992
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=23557. Accessed 18 July 2025.


GRIN-Global project