CALIFORNIA BUR-CLOVER 



Medica'go his'pida, syn. M. denticula'ta 



W121 

 (2 leaves) 



Flowers small (less than % in. 

 long), pea-like, yellow, usually 

 2 to 5 in a slender-stalked 

 cluster; stalk as long as or longer 

 than the leaflets 



Bracts (stipules) at base of 

 leafstalks, finely toothed 



Leaves alternate, stalked, di- 

 vided (pinnately compound) 

 into 3 segments (leaflets) 



Leaflets reverse-heart-shaped, 

 mostly less than % in. long, 

 without splotches, the upper 

 edges wavy and short-toothed 

 from extension of the veins 



"Bur" (pod) 2 to 3 times 

 spirally twisted, prominently 

 veined, several-seeded, with 

 ridged edges bearing a double 

 row of hooked or curved spines 



Stems several from the base, 

 spreading and prostrate but 

 with ends ascending, 6 to 24 in, 

 long 



Taproot annual, occasionally 

 with a somewhat thickened root 



California bur-clover, sometimes called toothed bur-clover, a 

 yellow-flowered annual, is one of the few western examples of an 

 aggressive and valuable introduced forage plant. A native of 

 Europe, it was probably introduced into southern California by the 

 Spanish explorers and is very abundant in that State. Its ability 

 to spread is illustrated by the fact that this species now grows vig- 

 orously in most regions of mild climate. In North America it ex- 

 tends from Nova Scotia to Florida, throughout the South and South- 



