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Taxon:  Medicago murex Willd.



Summary
Genus:
Medicago
Section:
Spirocarpos
Subsection:
Pachyspireae
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23626
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 3(2):1410. 1802
Comment:
may require conservation proposal to preserve usage
Verified:
01/31/1997 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
280 (269  active, 234  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Medicago sphaerocarpos Bertol. var. inermis Guss.

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Medicago murex Willd. var. murex

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Medicago murex Willd. f. sorrentini Urb.
Medicago murex Willd. f. sphaerocarpos (Bertol.) Urb.
Medicago murex Willd. var. inermis (Guss.) Urb.
Medicago sorrentini Tineo, nom. nud.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
  2. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  3. Gillespie, D. J. & J. A. McComb. 1991. Morphology and distribution of species in the Medicago murex complex. Canad. J. Bot. 69:2655-2662.
  4. Greuter, W. et al., eds. Med-Checklist. 1984-
  5. Heyn, C. C. 1963. The annual species of Medicago. Scripta Hierosolymitana 12:122.
  6. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  7. Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 1979 173.
  8. Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
  9. Pignatti, S. Flora d'Italia. 1982
  10. Pottier-Alapetite, G. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones. 1979-1981
  11. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie. 1962-1963
  12. 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.
  13. Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
  14. Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3271.
  15. 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.
  16. Small, E. et al. 1992. Isozyme variation and alleged progenitor-derivative relationships in the Medicago murex complex (Fabaceae). Pl. Syst. Evol. 181:33-43.
  17. Small, E. 1981. A numerical analysis of major groupings in Medicago employing traditionally used characters. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1555.
  18. Small, E. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Trifolieae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
  19. Smythies, B. E. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882. 1984-1986
  20. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
  21. Vincent, J. M. 1941. Serological studies of the root-nodule bacteria. I. Strains of Rhizobium meliloti. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 66(3-4):145-154.
  22. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. Flora palaestina. 1966-
Common names
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • WESTERN ASIA: Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Greece, Italy
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Small, E. 2012. Review of Fabaceae Trifolieae data for World Economic Plants, ed. 2. pers. comm.
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=23626. Accessed 18 July 2025.


GRIN-Global project