''Medicago arborea'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

species in the pea and bean family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

. Common names include moon trefoil, shrub medick, alfalfa arborea, and tree medick. It is native to several Mediterranean Basin countries –

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

including and

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

including

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and the East Aegean Islands, and Turkey. It primarily grows on rocky shores among shrubby vegetation. It forms a

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

relationship with the bacterium '' Sinorhizobium meliloti'', which is capable of

nitrogen fixation Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular dinitrogen () is converted into ammonia (). It occurs both biologically and abiological nitrogen fixation, abiologically in chemical industry, chemical industries. Biological nitrogen ...

. It is the only member of the genus ''Medicago'' which is used as an ornamental. ''M. arborea'' is sometimes misidentified as ''

Cytisus ''Cytisus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites (typically scrub and heathland) in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Ge ...

'', which it resembles.

Description

The shrub is high and wide and is pale yellow in colour. Its stems are erect and

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section (geometry), cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and S ...

while its

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s are triangular and are in height. Its petioles are long with obovate to obcordate leaflets. Flowers are scattered 6-10

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s and are long with axillar peduncles which are . The corolla is of orange colour and is .

Bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s are long while its

pedicels In botany, a pedicel is a stem that attaches a single flower to the inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branch ...

are long. Its

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

is coiled in 0.5 to 1.5 spirals which are wide and are

pubescent The adjective pubescent may describe: * people or animals undergoing puberty * plants that are hairy, covered in trichomes * insects that are covered in setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-lik ...

at the center. The seeds are long.

Subspecies

Three subspecies are accepted. *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''arborea'' (synonyms ''Cytisus neapolitanus'' and ''Medicago arborescens'' ) – Spain, Balearic Islands, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, Crete, East Aegean Islands, and Turkey *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''citrina'' (synonyms ''M. arborea'' var. ''citrina'' and ''Medicago citrina'' – eastern Spain and Balearic Islands *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''strasseri'' (synonym ''Medicago strasseri'' ) – Crete

References

External links

International Legume Database & Information ServicesMedicago arborea - L.

arborea Arborea is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on agriculture and cattle breeding with production of vegetables, rice, fruit and milk (notably the local milk product Arborea). Histo ...

Flora of the Balearic Islands Flora of Crete Flora of the East Aegean Islands Flora of Greece Flora of Italy Flora of Malta Flora of Sardinia Flora of Sicily Flora of Spain Flora of Turkey Matorral shrubland Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Trifolieae-stub