Black Medic

Medic, Black (Medicago lupulina)

Plant Species
From Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook *
By S. Smoliak, R.L. Ditterline, J.D. Scheetz, L.K. Holzworth, J.R. Sims, L.E. Wiesner, D.E. Baldridge, and G.L. Tibke

Black medic is a low-growing, self-pollinated, short-lived, perennial legume that can be managed as an annual. It is a native of Europe and Asia. The seeds closely resemble those of alfalfa, and were formally introduced into the United States as an adulterant of alfalfa seed.

Description

Black medic has thin, finely-pubescent, procumbent stems, 1 to 2 1/2 feet long. The leaves are pinnately trifoliate, petioles are long, and the leaflets are finely-pubescent, ovate, rounded, slightly-toothed at the tips, and are 1/2 inch or less in length. Flowers are small, bright yellow and borne in densely packed racemes about 3/8 inch long. The seeds are borne in individual pods which turn black at maturity. The seeds produced have a 65 to 70 percent hard seed content under Montana conditions.

Adaptation

Black medic is widely adapted to reasonably fertile soils that are well drained and not distinctly acid. The cultivar `George' was developed for use as a green manure crop on dryland with 15 inches of annual precipitation in the intermountain regions of Montana. Its adaptation to areas of lower pre-cipitation is being investigated. Its long-term adaptation to Montana, and its high level of hard seed content, would make it a likely choice to be used to establish a legume during the revegetation of disturbed sites in logging and mining area rehabilitation.

Cultivars

There were no United States cultivars of black medic adapted to Montana conditions until a breeding program was conducted by J.R. Sims of the Plant and Soil Science Department of Montana State University to develop a cultivar that would be adapted to Montana conditions to function as a green manure crop in the culture of wheat and barley. The cultivar `George' was released by the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station in 1985 (Crop Science, Vol. 25, July-August 1985, p. 709-710). George was selected at Bozeman, Montana, from the progeny of a composite of seed collected in Gallatin, Judith Basin and Yellowstone counties.

* The Montana Interagency Plant Materials Handbook (EB69) is no longer in print, but is available for viewing in
Montana County Extension Service and National Resource Conservation Service Offices.