Black Medick | Plant Information

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
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Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Fabales

Family:

Fabaceae (Pea)

Also in this family:

Alsike Clover, Birdsfoot, Bird's-foot Trefoil, Bitter Vetchling, Bladder Senna, Broad Bean, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Bush Vetch, Common Broom, Common Gorse, Common Laburnum, Common Restharrow, Common Vetch, Crown Vetch, Dyer's Greenweed, False Acacia, Garden Pea, Goat's Rue, Greater Bird's-foot Trefoil, Hairy Tare, Haresfoot Clover, Hop Trefoil, Horseshoe Vetch, Kidney Vetch, Lesser Trefoil, Lucerne, Meadow Vetchling, Narrow-leaved Vetch, Red Clover, Ribbed Melilot, Russell Lupin, Scottish Laburnum, Smooth Tare, Spanish Gorse, Strawberry Clover, Tall Melilot, Tree Lupin, Tufted Vetch, Western Gorse, White Clover, White Lupin, White Melilot, Zigzag Clover

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Annual or Perennial

Maximum Size:

20 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Gardens, grassland, lawns, roadsides, wasteland.

Flower:

Yellow, 4 petals

Bright yellow and up to 50 flowers per compact flowerhead. 4 downy sepals and 4 petals. Similar looking flower as Lesser Trefoil.

Fruit:

Small, flat and hairy, black kidney-shaped pea pods, up to 3mm across.

Leaves:

Trifoliate leaves, clover-like in appearance, with a black dot in the centre of each leaflet. Similar looking to Lesser Trefoil except the tips of the leaflets are subtly different in shape. With Black Medick the tips of the leaflets protrude slightly, being a little bit pointed. Lesser Trefoil leaflets have a slight indentation so they are ever so slightly more heart-shaped but it's not always easy to tell them apart so careful observation of multiple leaflets is often necessary for correct identification.

Other Names:

Black Clover, Black Grass, Black Hay, Black Meddick, Black Medic Clover, Black Nonesuch, Blackseed, Hop Clover, Hop Medic, Lupuline, Melilot Trefoil, Nonesuch, Yellow Clover, Yellow Trefoil.

Frequency (UK):

Common

Similar Species:

Hop Trefoil

Lesser Trefoil