Spotted medick

Spotted medick (Medicago arabica) is found in the south and east of England, mainly in grassy environments such as pastures. It is otherwise known as Calvary clover, from an old folk belief that the dark spots seen on its leaves were caused by Christ’s blood falling on a specimen of the plant that was growing at the foot of the Cross.

The plant grows to a maximum height of 24 inches (60 centimetres) although many stems trail along the ground. The leaves grow as sets of three leaflets, which might lead to people mistaking the plant for a kind of clover. The dark spots are seen most easily as the leaves age and start to turn brown.

Small bright yellow flowers appear on stalks between April and August. These are replaced by pods that coil into a spiral that has a double row of spines. These enable ripe pods to be pulled off the plant and carried some distance on the legs and flanks of passing animals.

When on the ground, the pod does not split open to release the seeds. Instead, one of the seeds will germinate inside the pod and send a shoot through the pod’s wall to find soil in which to root itself. The rest of the pod will often remain attached to the new plant as it grows.

© John Welford