Medicago lupulina
Black Medick
an annual or perennial member of the Medicago genus in the family Leguminosae.
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Leguminosae
- Genus
- Medicago
- Life cycle
- annual, perennial
- Growth rate
- moderate
- Height
- 0.45 m
- Fertility
- Self fertile, Bees, Lepidoptera, Self
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
- Pollinators
- Bees, Lepidoptera, Self
Uses
Edible uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Leaves - cooked[2]. Used as a potherb[5]. A nutritional analysis is available[8]. Seed - cooked[6][2][3]. Parched and eaten or ground into a powder[5]. The seed is said to contain trypsin inhibitors[8]. These can interfere with certain enzymes that help in the digestion of proteins, but are normally destroyed if the seed is sprouted first.
- Plant part
- Leaves
- Plant part
- Seed
Medicinal uses
Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Aqueous extracts of the plant have antibacterial properties against micro-organisms[8][9]. The plant is lenitive[8][9].
- Product or use
- Antibacterial
- Product or use
- Lenitive
Material uses
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
A good green manure plant, it is fairly deep rooted, has good resistance to 'Clover rot' but it is not very fast growing[11]. It can be undersown with cereals, succeeding even in a wet season[11].
Environment
- Range
- Europe, including Britain, south and east to N. Africa, the Atlantic Islands and W. Asia.
- Habitat
- Grassy places and roadsides[4], often occurring as a garden weed on acid and calcareous soils[1].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- no shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 5+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Cultivation
This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.
Dislikes acid soils[11]. (This conflicts with the notes on its habitat above.) Dislikes shade. A good food plant for many caterpillars[10]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[7].
References
F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951-00-00
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
Yanovsky. E. Food Plants of the N. American Indians. Publication no. 237. U.S. Depf of Agriculture.
Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985-00-00 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986-00-00
Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe. Pan 1982-00-00 ISBN 0-330-26642-x
Woodward. L. Burge. P. Green Manures. Elm Farm Research Centre. 1982-00-00