All Floras      Advanced Search
FOC Vol. 10 Page 554, 555, 556 Login | eFloras Home | Help
FOC | Family List | FOC Vol. 10 | Fabaceae | Medicago

6. Medicago falcata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 779. 1753.

野苜蓿 ye mu xu

Perennial herbs, (20-)40-100(-120) cm. Stems erect or as­cending, terete, branchy. Stipules lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, base hastate, apex acuminate; leaflets obovate to linear, (5-)8-15(-20) × (1-)2-5(-10) mm, pubescent abaxially, glabrous or appressed puberulent adaxially, margin serrulate in apical 1/4 or margin 2- or 3-serrate, lateral veins 5-15 pairs, base cune­ate, apex rounded, obtuse, or acute, mucronate. Racemes 10-20(-40) mm, with 6-20(-25) flowers, crowded; peduncles axil­lary, straight, equal to or slightly longer than leaves; bracts ca. 1 mm; pedicels 2-3 mm. Corolla yellow, 6-9(-11) mm; standard long obovate. Ovary linear; ovules 2-5. Legume falcate or straight, (8-)10-15 × 2.5-3.5(-4) mm, appressed puberulent, veins oblique and thin. Seeds 2-4, brown, ovate-elliptic, ca. 2 × 1.5 mm. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep.

Grassy places, slopes, ravines, dry sandy fields. Gansu, Hebei, Jilin, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Xizang [Asia, Europe].


1 Stems ascending, appressed puberulent; leaflets obovate to linear-oblanceolate, margin serrulate in apical 1/4, apex obtuse, mucronulate, glabrous adaxially, appressed puberulent abaxially, lateral veins 12-15 pairs; legume falcate.   6a subsp. falcata
+ Stems erect, densely yellow tomentose; leaflets linear, margin 2- or 3-serrate, sparsely appressed puberulent adaxially, densely tomentose abaxially, lateral veins 5-7 pairs; legume straight.   6b subsp. romanica

Lower Taxa


 

Flora of China @ efloras.org
Browse by
Volume
Family
Genera
Advanced Search


Flora of China Home


Checklist

 

 

 |  eFlora Home |  People Search  |  Help  |  ActKey  |  Hu Cards  |  Glossary  |