 Flowers and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photo: Murray Fagg, Cotter River, ACT |
DW.jpg) Flowering plant. Photo: Don Wood, Carnarvon Station Bush Heritage Reserve, via Augathella, Qld |
 Flowers, burrs, and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Lake George near Bungendore, NSW |
 Flowers, burrs, and leaves. Australian Plant Image Index, photographer Murray Fagg, Lake George near Bungendore, NSW |
Common Name
Family
Fabaceae
Notes
Introduced annual forb, prostrate or less than 30cm tall. Leaves alternating along the stems, composed of three leaflets, each 0.8-2.7cm long, 7-20mm wide, hairless, sometimes sparsely hairy below, toothed, with blunt tips or tips notched and bearing a small straight point. Flowers yellow, pea-shaped, with five petals, two almost joined together. Flowers single, or in clusters of 2-10 flowers, the stalks arising from the bases of the leaves. Burrs hairless, with many spines, mostly hooked.
Description and photo (pages 402-403) and line drawing of burr (Fig. 51f page 403) (as Medicago polymorpha var. vulgaris) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales. Varieties of this species are no longer recognised.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Medicago~polymorpha