Author: navidcod 
Medicago polymorpha
Masoumeh Izadpanah, Parvin Salehi Shanjani and Leila Falah Hoseini
Natural Resources Gene Bank, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization, Tehran, Iran.
Uploaded at August 2021
Scientific editor: Valiullah Mozaffarian
Seed Storage
The storage behavior of this species is orthodox (desiccation-tolerant seeds); dry to 15-20% eRH and store at -20 °C.
Germination requirements
The seeds of this species are not dormant. Sterilize seeds before placing them on wet germination paper. Place seeds for two weeks in 4 ºC to germinate uniformly. Then germinate under an alternating temperature regime of 15/20 ºC (the higher temperature for 16 hours in light and the lower one for eight hours in dark).
Morphology
Fruit type: Pod
Fruit shape: Discoid, short to long-cylindrical, or conical-truncate, spiny, tuberculate or spineless, usually glabrous; number of coils 1.5-7, not tightly appressed, turning clockwise; on coil surface 6-10 well discernible veins, curved, anastomosing freely before entering the lateral vein; between it and the dorsal suture a marked groove traversed by roots of spines or tubercles; spines if present, 0.5-4 mm long, up to 18 in each row, grooved, inserted at 90° (on the last coils) to 180° to the surface of the coil, the longest ones usually hooked.
Seed shape: Oblong–ovoid, 1-2 seeds in each coil, separated; seed coat smooth, light yellow to brownish; radicle approximately half the seed length, the tip of radicle somewhat protruding.
Fruit size: Diameter 3.5-9 mm, thickness (2.5-) 3-3.5 (-4) mm
Seed size: Length (2.5-) 3-4 mm, maximum width (1.3-) 2-2.5 mm, thickness (0.6-) 0.8-1 mm in an accession from Kouhdasht, Lorestan with 1000 seed weight 3.72 g, which was collected in 2001 by Reza Karimi and the cultivated sample was identified by Masumeh Izadpanah and Iraj Mehregan with accession number 6553.
1000 seed weight: 1.5-4.5 g
Biological features
Life form: Herbaceous, annual, decumbent to ascending
Inflorescences and flower type and pollination mechanisms: Flowers in axillary pedunculate racemes, hermaphrodite, zygomorphic and asymmetric; corolla (composed of banner: upper large petal, wings: two petals adjacent to the banner, and Keel: two bottom petals) yellow, wings longer than the Keel; stamens are always ten in number, and their filaments are fused in a group of nine stamens plus one separate stamen (9+1). Plant monoecious, self-pollinate with 10% cross-pollination, which is carried out by insects.
Time of flowering: March-June (rarely July-September)
Time of seed ripening: April-July (rarely August-October)
Seed dispersal methods: The seeds are displaced by weight. Pods move by attaching to the wool and hair of animals.
Geographical distribution: Iran, Turkey, Europe, Iraq, Turcomania, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Typus according to Flora Iranica: Europa, Herb. BM-CLIFF.
Distribution in Iran: West, North, South. Golestan, Bushehr, Kordestsn and Boyerahmad, Qazvin, Zanjan, Mazandaran, Lorestan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Chaharmahall and Bakhtiari, Kerman, Ardabil, Fars, Hormozgan, and Khuzestan
Taxonomy
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Medicago
Species: polymorpha
Common name: Burr medick
References and Links
Ghahraman, A. Flore of Iran. Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands with University of Tehran Publication. https://floraofiran.net/index.php.
Lesins, K.A. and Lesins, I. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae): a taxogenetic study. The Hague, Boston, London: Dr W. Junk Publisher, 234 pp.
Small, E. and Brookes, B. 1990. Circumscription of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae) by seed characters. Can. J. Bot. 68: 613-629.
Small, E. and Jomphe, M. 1988. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canadian Journal of Botany, 67: 3260-3294.
Mehregan, I., Rahiminejad, M.R. and Azizian, D. 2002. A taxonomic revision of the genus Medicago L. (Papilionaceae) in Iran. Iranian Journal of Botany, 9: 207-221(In Persian).
Mozaffarian, V. 2012. A Pictorial Dictionary of Botany. Farhange Moaser Publisher, 1088 pp.
Rechinger, K.H. 1984. Flora Iranica 157. Akadmische Druch. U. Verlagsanstalt. Graz.
