Medicago minima

Dwarf alfalfa (Medicago minima)

The dwarf - alfalfa (Medicago minima) is a species of the genus alfalfa (Medicago ) in the subfamily of the Fabaceae ( Faboideae ) within the legume family ( Fabaceae ). It flowers from April to September. Medicago minima is a characteristic plant of the open dry meadows. As a pasture plant, it comes at the most for sheep into consideration. This delay, however, the fruits very easily with their wool and thus contribute to the distribution of the species at.

Description

Shoots and leaves

The stems of herbaceous plant are hairy, more or less silky. The stem is simple or by reason of way branching, decumbent, ascending or erect, often only 10 cm long and blunt -edged. Sometimes reach some instances, a length of 50 cm.

The leaves are short- stalked (rarely over 1 cm ) and hairy on both sides more or less dense. The leaves are small, obovate to broadly oval, 3-9 mm long and about half as wide, usually just above downward very finely serrated, the upper leaves often wedge-shaped.

The stipules are ovate, pointed, and serrated margin entire.

Flowers, fruits and seeds

The inflorescences are usually three to fünfblütig with a very short, no more than 1 to 2 cm long, expiring in a grannenartige tip axis. The flower stalks are shorter than about 1 mm long calyx tube. The sepals are as long as or slightly longer than the tube and also densely hairy.

The crown is 3 to 4 mm long and lively colored yellow. The wings and the boat are approximately equal in length and shorter than the barely straightened flag.

The legumes are almost spherical, 2-4 mm wide, covered with 3-5 turns and close with 2 to 3 mm long, straight to strongly curved spines and short hair.

The seeds are of a spherical segment, 1.5 to 2.4 mm long and 0.8 to 1.2 mm wide

Occurrence

Dwarf - medics ( habitus )

Medicago minima is native to South, Central and Eastern Europe: north-west reaches the area to France, Belgium, Holland, England, Germany, Denmark, southern Sweden and Poland. To the east it spreads through southern Russia to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. It also occurs in North Africa, Ethiopia and the Canary Islands.

The dwarf - medics occurs in central and southern Germany (Rhine -Main-Danube area ). However, south of the Danube valley it grows only in Hegau. He is missing completely in the northwestern plains.

The dwarf - alfalfa grows on dry slopes in steppes and mountain meadows, in pastures, fields, in sand pits, railway embankments and in gardens. Both calcareous soils low in calcium as are its habitat. Often it grows on loess and quartz sand in warmer locations. It rises only sporadically to the montane level to (rarely above 1000 m ).

An apparently very rare variant of Medicago minima is the variety Medicago minima var viscida. Here, the stems, the leaves and pods are densely covered with sticky glandular hairs. Apparently to be found in Germany only in Franconia / Franconian Jura (eg Karlstadt ).