Author: navidcod 
Medicago constricta
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: Straw-colored to dark brownish-grey, usually cylindrical in the middle part, spiny; number of coils 4.5-8.5, turning clockwise, tightly appressed, the margins of coil edge may be elevated, so that the edge may appear concave; surface of coil with 7-10 strongly curved veins, almost concentric toward the coil edge, where they may be obscured by loose cellular tissue (after clearing this off, some veins are seen to reach the lateral vein); spines 8-10 in each row, 0.5-3 mm long, inserted at 180° -210° to the corresponding coil surface, often hooked.
Seed shape: Reniform but often flattened along edge adjacent to the radicle, 1-2 seeds in each coil, separated; seed coat smooth, yellow; radicle less than half of the seed length.
Fruit size: Diameter: 5-7 mm, thickness: 6-12 mm
Seed size: Length (2.5-) 3-4 (-4.5) mm, maximum width 1.6-2 mm, thickness 0.6-0.8 mm in an accession from Pouldokhtar Lorestan with 1000 seed weight 2.5 g, which was collected in 2001 by Ali Mohammadiyan and the cultivated sample was identified by Masumeh Izadpanah and Iraj Mehregan with accession number 6554.
1000 seed weight: 0.5 -3 g
Biological features
Life form: Herbaceous, annual, procumbent 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; 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 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: Native to the eastern Mediterranean region, from Greece to the Middle East. Typus Insula Rhodos: champs incultes pres Trianda, 12. V. 1870, BOURGEAU, G.
Distribution in Iran: West and South. Lorestan and Fars
Taxonomy
Family: Papilionaceae
Genus: Medicago
Species: constricta
Common name: Medick or burclover
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.
