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Taxon:  Medicago arabica (L.) Huds.



Summary
Genus:
Medicago
Section:
Spirocarpos
Subsection:
Leptospireae
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23555
Place of publication:
Fl. angl. 288. 1762
Verified:
05/22/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
477 (468  active, 431  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Medicago polymorpha L. var. arabica L.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Medicago arabica (L.) Huds. subsp. inermis Ricker
Medicago cordata Desr.
Medicago maculata Sibth.
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  2. 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
  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
  4. Allan, H. H. B. et al. Flora of New Zealand. 1961-
  5. Allen, O. N. & E. K. Allen. The Leguminosae. A source book of characteristics, uses, and nodulation. 1981
  6. Botanical Society of the British Isles. BSBI taxon database (on-line resource).
  7. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  8. Demilly, D. et al. Liste alphabétique des principales espèces de plantes cultivées et de mauvaises herbes. Noms latins et noms français, ed. 7. 2001
  9. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  10. Eriksson, O. et al. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2. 1979
  11. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  12. Greuter, W. et al., eds. Med-Checklist. 1984-
  13. Heyn, C. C. 1963. The annual species of Medicago. Scripta Hierosolymitana 12:81.
  14. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
  15. Instituto de Botánica Darwinion. Flora del Conosur. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares. 2008
  16. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  17. International Seed Testing Association. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2. 1982
  18. Isely, D. Native and naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii). 1998
  19. Iwatsuki, K. et al. Flora of Japan. 1993-
  20. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  21. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  22. Kartesz, J. T. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1994
  23. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
  24. Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study. 1979 199.
  25. Lock, J. M. Legumes of Africa: a checklist. 1989
  26. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  27. Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
  28. Pignatti, S. Flora d'Italia. 1982
  29. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  30. Pottier-Alapetite, G. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones. 1979-1981
  31. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie. 1962-1963
  32. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  33. Sales, F. & I. C. Hedge. 1994. Medicago L. (Leguminosae): typification and nomenclature. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 51:321.
  34. Silva, L. et al. Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta). 2005
  35. Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3272.
  36. 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.
  37. Small, E. 1981. A numerical analysis of major groupings in Medicago employing traditionally used characters. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1555.
  38. Smythies, B. E. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882. 1984-1986
  39. Täckholm, V. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2. 1974
  40. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. Flora of Iraq. 1966-
  41. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
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  43. Yakovlev, G. P. et al. Legumes of Northern Eurasia. 1996
  44. Zuloaga, F. O. & O. Morrone, eds. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de la República Argentina. I. Pteridophyta, Gymnospermae y Angiospermae (Monocotyledonae), II. Dicotyledonae. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 60, 74. 1996, 1999
  45. Webster's third new international dictionary. 1961
Common names
English
spotted bur-clover –
spotted medic –
spotted medick –
spotted-leaf medic –
French
luzerne d'Arabie –
luzerne maculée –
German
arabischer Schneckenklee –
Italian
medica maculata –
Japanese Rōmaji
montsuki-uma-goyashi –
Spanish
trébol de carretilla –
trébol manchado –
Swedish
fläcklusern –
Transcribed Chinese
he ban mu xu –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationDagestan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeUkraine  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeBelgium  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeGermany  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeNetherlands  
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalAzores 
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaNew ZealandNew Zealand  
4NaturalizedEuropeMiddle EuropeCzechoslovakia  
4NaturalizedEuropeMiddle EuropeSwitzerland  
4NaturalizedEuropeNorthern EuropeSweden  
4NaturalizedNorthern America United States  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaBrazilBrazil  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaArgentina  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaChile  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaParaguay  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaSouthern South AmericaUruguay  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaWestern South AmericaBolivia  
Native
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands]
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
  • WESTERN ASIA: Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Europe
  • EAST EUROPE: Ukraine
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Portugal [Azores]
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
  • NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand
Europe
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Switzerland, Czechoslovakia
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: Sweden
Northern America
  • REGION: United States
Southern America
  • BRAZIL: Brazil
  • SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA: Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
  • WESTERN SOUTH AMERICA: Bolivia
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
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=23555. Accessed 20 July 2025.


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