Medicago lupulina 'Black Medick'

[Ex. Somerset, England] 

Fabaceae: winter green annual or short lived perennial. Short, often sprawling plant with a compact head of bright yellow flowers and clover-like leaves. It can be distinguished from lesser and hop trefoil by its seed pods which are black and coiled when ripe and not buried within the dead flowers, and from other common medicks by the absence of spines on the pods. Flowers from April to July. Habitats include dry grasslands, pastures, road banks, waste places and even walls. Native to Europe, including Britain, south and east to Northern Africa, the Atlantic Islands and Western Asia.

USES:

The leaves can be cooked and used as a potherb. The seed can be cooked, parched and eaten or ground into a powder. The seed is said to contain trypsin inhibitors. These can interfere with certain enzymes that help in the digestion of proteins, but are normally destroyed if the seed is sprouted first.

Aqueous extracts of the plant have antibacterial properties against micro-organisms. The plant is lenitive.

Makes a good green manure plant, it is fairly deep rooted, has good resistance to 'Clover rot' but it is not very fast growing. It can be undersown with cereals, succeeding even in a wet season.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Pre-soak the seed for 12 hours in warm water and then sow in spring in situ. The seed can also be sown in situ in autumn. Green manure crops can be sown in situ from early spring until early autumn. (The later sowings are for an over-wintering crop.)

HARVESTED: 2019

 

APPROX. 300+ SEEDS