Author: navidcod 
Medicago truncatula
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
shape light yellow to dark grey; cylindrical, hard-walled; spiny, rarely tubercled; coils 3.5-6, appressed, turning clockwise or anticlockwise; surface of coil with 6-12 radial veins, branching slightly before entering the lateral vein; between lateral vein and the dorsal suture there is a groove which at pod maturity may become filled with spongy cellular tissue; the dorsal suture steeply elevated above the lateral veins (rarely on the same level); spines 7-11 in each row, 1-4 mm long, sometimes curved, their base often broadly conical due to embedding in spongy tissue which may cover the spines to their tips; inserted at 90°-130°-180° to the surface of the coil.
Seed shape: Reniform, 1-2 seeds in each coil, separated; seed coat smooth, pale yellow to brownish-yellow, usually with a darker patch at the tip of the radicle and around hilum; radicle less than half of the seed length.
Fruit size: Diameter 5-6 mm, thickness 4.5-8 mm
Seed size: Length (3.2-) 4-4.5 mm, maximum width (1.2-) 1.9-2.1 mm, thickness (0.5-) 0.9-1.1 mm in an accession from Gilan Gharb, Kermanshah with 1000 seed weight 4.6 g, which was collected in 2010 by Mahmud Amirkhani and Mohammad Reza Pahlevani and the cultivated sample was identified by Masumeh Izadpanah and Iraj Mehregan with accession number 30474.
1000 seed weight: 2.9-5.9 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 shorter than the keel (rarely equal to or longer than it); 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 to Jun
Time of seed ripening: May to July
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, South, and center. East Azerbaijan, Golestan, Bushehr, North Khorasan, Ilam, Mazandaran, Qom, Yazd, Kermanshah, and Khuzestan
Taxonomy
Family: Papilionaceae
Genus: Medicago
Species: truncatula
Common name: Barrel Clover
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.
