Medicago laciniata, (L.) Miller

33. M. laciniata (L.) Miller View in CoL , Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 5 (1768).

Somewhat puberulent annual up to 40 cm. Leaflets obcordate, cuneate, often incise-dentate or almost pinnatifid; stipules ovate to ovate-lanceolate in outline, dentate to pectinate. Racemes 1- to 2-flowered. Corolla c. 5 mm. Legume 2-5-5 mm in diameter, in a lax spiral of 3-7 turns, globose to ellipsoid, glabrous or sometimes pubescent, spiny; transverse veins sigmoid, sparingly branched; submarginal vein broad, separated from the flat or convex marginal vein by a narrow groove; spines up to as long as the diameter of the legume, nearly straight but uncinate, deeply sulcate at base. Naturalized locally in the Mediterranean region, extending to the Ukraine. [Co Ga Hs It Rs (W).] (N. Africa, Asia Minor.)