Dwarf snail clover

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dwarf snail clover
Dwarf snail clover (Medicago minima)

Dwarf snail clover ( Medicago minima )

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Fabales (Fabales)
Family : Legumes (Fabaceae)
Subfamily : Butterflies (Faboideae)
Genre : Snail clover ( Medicago )
Type : Dwarf snail clover
Scientific name
Medicago minima
( L. ) Bartal.

The dwarf snail clover ( Medicago minima ) is a species of the genus snail clover ( Medicago ) in the subfamily of the butterflies (Faboideae) within the family of the legumes (Fabaceae). It is widespread in North Africa and Eurasia .

description

Illustration from Flora Batava of Afbeelding en Beschrijving van Nederlandsche Gewassen , IX Deel, 1846
Habitus
Stem with leaves and fruit cluster
Foliage leaves
Stipules
fruit
Herbarium evidence of Medicago minima var. Viscida

Appearance and leaf

The dwarf snail clover is a herbaceous plant that is usually annual . The more or less silky haired stem is simple or branched from the base, prostrate, ascending or upright, blunt-edged and often only 10 centimeters long; occasionally some specimens reach a length of 50 centimeters.

The alternate leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole, which is rarely more than 1 centimeter short, is more or less hairy on both sides. The leaf blade is pinnate in three parts. The relatively small leaflets are obovate to broadly oval, 3 to 9 millimeters long and about half as wide, usually only very finely serrated above, those of the upper leaves are often wedge-shaped. The stipules are ovate, pointed and serrated all over.

Inflorescence, flower, fruit and seeds

The flowering period extends from April to September. The inflorescences are usually three- to five-flowered with a very short, at most 1 to 2 centimeters long, axis ending in an awn-like tip. The flower stalks are shorter than the approximately 1 millimeter long calyx tube.

The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The calyx lobes are as long or slightly longer than the tube and also densely hairy. The vivid yellow petals stand together in a 3 to 4 millimeter long crown, which has the typical shape of the butterfly flower . The wings and the shuttle are about the same length and shorter than the barely flared flag.

With a diameter of 2 to 4 millimeters, the legume is almost spherical and has three to four turns and is densely covered with 2 to 3 millimeters long, straight to more curved spines and short hairs.

The seeds are spherical segment-shaped, 1.5 to 2.4 millimeters long and 0.8 to 1.2 millimeters wide.

Chromosome number

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 16.

Occurrence

The dwarf snail clover is a Mediterranean-sub-Mediterranean flora element . The distribution area of Medicago minima extends from the Canary Islands across North Africa and Ethiopia and southern, central and eastern Europe to Central Asia and China . Medicago minima occurs from southern Russia to the Middle East and India . In Europe, the area extends from Spain via France , Belgium , Holland to southern England , Denmark and southern Sweden , Germany and Poland eastwards to Romania .

In the Central European lowlands, in the Rhön , in the Eifel , on the upper reaches of the Moselle , Saar and Neckar as well as in the southern Swiss Jura it occurs only sporadically; It is rarely found in the wine-growing regions of Rhineland-Palatinate , on the Main , on the Upper and High Rhine and (especially in the southern Franconian Jura); in Upper and Lower Austria and in Burgenland it occurs scattered. The dwarf snail clover occurs in central and southern Germany (Rhine-Main-Danube region); south of the Danube valley, however, it only grows in the Hegau and is completely absent in the northwestern lowlands .

The dwarf snail clover colonizes dry slopes, steppe and heather meadows, semi- arid grasslands , pastures, fields, sand pits, roadsides, railway embankments and gardens in Central Europe . It only rises occasionally to the montane altitude level , rarely above 1000 meters. It thrives in warmer locations.

The dwarf snail clover thrives best on gritty or sandy, calcareous to calcareous soils . It often grows on loess and quartz sand . In Central Europe it is a species of the Sedo-Scleranthetea class, also occurs in gappy societies of the Festuco-Brometea class and is a species of the Thero-Brachypodion association in southern Europe.

Medicago minima is a characteristic plant of the open dry meadows. As a pasture plant, it comes into consideration at most for sheep. The sheep easily carry the fruit with their wool and thus contribute to the spread of the dwarf snail clover.

Systematics

Apparently, very rarely is the variety Medicago minima var. Viscida W.DJ KOch . The stem, the leaves and the pods are densely covered with sticky glandular hairs. In Germany apparently only to be found in Franconia / Franconian Jura (for example near Karlstadt ).

literature

  • Gustav Hegi, H. Gams, H. Marzell: Illustrated flora of Central Europe. Pteridophyta, Spermatophyta . 2nd Edition. Volume IV. Part 3: Angiospermae: Dicotyledones 2 (5) (Leguminosae - Tropaeolaceae) . Carl Hanser and Paul Parey, Munich and Berlin / Hamburg 1964, ISBN 3-489-70020-1 (unchanged reprint from 1923-1924 with addendum).
  • Konrad von Weihe (ed.): Illustrated flora. Germany and neighboring areas. Vascular cryptogams and flowering plants . Founded by August Garcke. 23rd edition. Paul Parey, Berlin / Hamburg 1972, ISBN 3-489-68034-0 .
  • Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg . 2nd expanded edition. tape 2 : Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Dilleniidae): Hypericaceae to Primulaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1993, ISBN 3-8001-3323-7 .
  • Wolfgang Adler, Karl Oswald, Raimund Fischer: Excursion flora of Austria . Ed .: Manfred A. Fischer. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart / Vienna 1994, ISBN 3-8001-3461-6 .
  • Christian Heitz: School and excursion flora for Switzerland. Taking into account the border areas. Identification book for wild growing vascular plants . Founded by August Binz. 18th completely revised and expanded edition. Schwabe & Co., Basel 1986, ISBN 3-7965-0832-4 .
  • Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3454-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Medicago minima (L.) L., dwarf snail clover. In: FloraWeb.de.
  2. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 589.
  3. ^ Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (ed.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 3: Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Rosidae): Droseraceae to Fabaceae. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8001-3314-8 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe . 2nd Edition. tape 2 : Yew family to butterfly family . Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .

Web links

Commons : Miniature Snail ( Medicago minima )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files