Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

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Medicago praecox

Common name

Small-leaved Burr Medic

Family

Fabaceae

Where found

Weed. Sydney and Canberra. Occasionally on the tablelands and Western Slopes.

Notes

Introduced annual herb, to 0.5 m tall or sprawling. Burrs with many hooked spines. Stems more or less hairy. Leaves alternating along the stems, compound, with 3 leaflets each 0.2-1.2 cm long, 2-13 mm wide, usually hairless on the upper surface, hairy below, margins toothed towards the tip, tips blunt with a small point, stipules deeply incised, hairy on lower surface. Flowers yellow, pea-shaped, with 5 petals, 2 almost joined together to form the keel, the standard petal 2–3 mm long. Flowers single or in pairs.

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Medicago~praecox (accessed 24 January, 2021)