Author: navidcod 
Medicago scutellata
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: brown to dark gray, oval or cup-shaped, spineless; number of coils 5-7, imbricate like stacked bowls with the convex surfaces toward the pod base, turning clockwise; coil edge thin, pergamentaceous; on the pod surface veins anastomose freely from the start, closer to the edge uniting in thicker strands, entering the dorsal suture at an angle opposite to the coiling direction.
Seed shape: Seeds larger than all other species; kidney–shape but often flattened along edge adjacent to radicle, 1-2 seeds in a coil (2-3 apical coils seedless), separated; seed coat yellow to light brown; around chalaza and extending to the hilum a brown strip shaped like an exclamation mark; radicle shorter than half of the seed, its tip separated from the main body of the seed and make an angle of about 45 with it; this is similar to M. rugosa, but in M. rugosa it is more distinct.
Fruit size: Diameter 9-15, thickness 6-12 mm
Seed size: Length 2.7-3.1 mm, maximum width 1.1-1.2 mm, thickness 1.6-2.0 mm in an accession from Ahvaz, Khuzestan with 1000 seed weight 10.8 g, which was collected in 2003 by Mohammad Hasanzadeh, and the cultivated sample was identified by Masumeh Izadpanah and Iraj Mehregan with accession number 20438.
1000 seed weight: 2.5-11 g
Biological features
Life Form: Herbaceous, annual, prostrate to decumbent
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 to orange-yellow, wings about the length of 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: April (sometimes March in southern regions) to August
Time of seed ripening: April to September
Seed dispersal methods: The seeds are displaced by weight. Pods move by attaching to the wool and hair of animals.
Geographical distribution:
Distribution in Iran: West, North, East, and South. East Azerbaijan, Golestan, Bushehr, North Khorasan, Kermanshah, and Khuzestan
Taxonomy
Family: Papilionaceae
Genus: Medicago
Species: scutellata
Common name: Snail medic
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.
