General Appearance
Medicago arabica (L.) Huds., it is an annual herb. prostrate or sprawling, rather robust, sub glabrous, up to 50 cm long; hairs multicellular. Stipules ovate, acuminate, deeply dentate or ± laciniate, 5-12 x 3-5 mm. Leaflets broadly obovate, or obcordate, 7-20 (-30) x 7-20 (-25) mm, generally with a conspicuous dark central blotch, glabrous above, thinly pilose below. Peduncles much shorter than the long petiole of leaves with raceme (1-) 2-5 (-6)-flowered. Flowers 4-5 mm long, yellow; pedicels c. 1 mm long. Calyx-teeth equal to exceeding the tube. Corolla about twice as long as the calyx. Pods discoid, sub globose to spherical, 5-7 mm high and about the same in diameter, with 3-5 (-7) anticlockwise coils; margin 3-grooved, softly spiny (nearly spineless); spines up to 4 mm long, hooked, deeply sulcate or grooved. Seeds 1-2 in each coil, oblong-ellipsoid, 3-3.5 x 1.5-2 mm, yellowish or light-brown. smooth.
Flowering in: May-Sept.
Life Form
Phytochoria
Distribution in Libya
Benghazi Plain: Reported from Benghazi by Pampanini
Notes
Wild. I haven’t found a recent record of this species in Libya so far.
This species is accepted: https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:58427-3
Link of images: https://www.florealpes.com/fiche_medicagoarab.php, https://flora.org.il/en/plants/medara/, https://dryades.units.it/floritaly/index.php?procedure=taxon_page&tipo=all&id=2591, https://www.i-flora.com/en/the-smartphone-apps/iflora-deutschland/species/art/show/medicago-arabica-1.html
For more information
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:58427-3, https://www.ipni.org/n/58427-3, http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000213417, https://www.gbif.org/species/2965527, https://africanplantdatabase.ch/en/nomen/specie/147091/medicago-arabica-l-huds, https://www.preservons-la-nature.fr/flore/taxon/721.html, https://www.florealpes.com/fiche_medicagoarab.php, https://botany.cz/en/medicago-arabica/, https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=6492, https://dryades.units.it/floritaly/index.php?procedure=taxon_page&tipo=all&id=2591, https://flora.org.il/en/plants/medara/, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicago_arabica
First: Encyclopedia Flora of Libyan:
Jafri, S.M.H. & El-Gadi, A. (1980) Flora of Libya, Fabaceae Vol. (86) Department of Botany, Al-Faateh Univ., Tripoli, Libya. Page. 203.
Second: Researches and PhD theses, master theses, Sorted by Newest:
Prodr. Fl. Ciren.: 255 (1931). https://bibdigital.rjb.csic.es/records/item/14218-prodromo-della-flora-cirenaica











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