Flora of New Zealand Series

spotted bur medick

Procumbent, annual herb; stems ± glabrous. Lvs almost glabrous or sparsely hairy on petiole and under surface of leaflets, glabrous above; petioles c. 10-60-(150) mm long; leaflets mostly obtriangular, obtuse to slightly emarginate or slightly acute, mucronate, obtuse to cuneate at base, serrate near apex, usually with dark markings, c. 5-20 mm long; terminal petiolule 2-4 mm long; lateral petiolules < 1 mm long; stipules ovate, acuminate, cordate, usually dentate, sometimes laciniate. Infl. 1-5-flowered; peduncles ± glabrous or sparsely hairy, < petioles; pedicels < or = calyx tube. Calyx sparsely hairy; calyx teeth narrowly triangular, = or > tube. Corolla yellow, 4-6 mm long. Pod ± glabrous, coiled in 3-7 turns without a hole in the centre, faintly reticulately veined and with a double row of spines at the margin, 3-7 mm diam. (excluding spines), few-seeded; seeds yellow to brown, c. 3 mm long.

N.: locally common throughout but not known from Taranaki; S.: Stephens Id, vicinity of Nelson City, scattered localities in lowland Marlborough, Canterbury, and Otago, Bluff; K., Ch.

Europe, Canary Is, Asia Minor, S.W. Asia, N. Africa 1867

Waste places, thin pasture, lawns.

FL Sep-Apr.

The spines of the pod are usually curved or patent, more so than in M. nigra which has ± erect spines (Fig. 65). The intensity of the anthocyanin lf patch appears to be influenced by light conditions and the age of the plant (Lesins and Lesins, op. cit.). Spotted bur medick has been previously known in N.Z. as M. maculata.