Taxon:  Medicago rigidula (L.) All.



Summary
Genus:
Medicago
Section:
Spirocarpos
Subsection:
Pachyspireae
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23668
Place of publication:
Fl. pedem. 1:316.  1785
Comment:
non Medicago rigidula auct. Asian (= M. rigiduloides E. Small)
Verified:
06/10/1987 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
234 (182  active, 174  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
  2. Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
  4. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  5. Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
  6. Heyn, C. C. 1963. The annual species of Medicago. Scripta Hierosolymitana 12:103.
  7. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931-1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
  8. Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
  9. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  10. Lesins, K. A. & I. Lesins. 1979. Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). A taxogenetic study 170.
  11. Pignatti, S. 1982. Flora d'Italia.
  12. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  13. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. 1962-1963. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie. Note: lists as Medicago rigidula Desr.
  14. Quiros, C. F. & G. R. Bauchan. 1988. The genus Medicago and the origin of the Medicago sativa complex. In A. A. Hanson et al., eds., Alfalfa and alfalfa improvement. Agronomy 29:93-124.
  15. Small, E. & M. Jomphe. 1989. A synopsis of the genus Medicago (Leguminosae). Canad. J. Bot. 67:3270.
  16. Small, E. et al. 1981. The taxonomic value of floral characters in tribe Trigonelleae (Leguminosae), with special reference to Medicago. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1580.
  17. Small, E. 1981. A numerical analysis of major groupings in Medicago employing traditionally used characters. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1555.
  18. Smythies, B. E. 1984-1986. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882.
  19. Täckholm, V. 1974. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2.
  20. Terrell, E. E. et al. 1986. Agricultural Handbook no. 505
  21. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
  22. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
  23. Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
  24. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966-. Flora palaestina.
  25. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Note: forage crop
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
EnglishTifton bur-clover  1Terrell, E. E. et al. 1986. Agricultural Handbook no. 505
EnglishTifton medic  1Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria n.Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt n.Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya possibly n.w.Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationChecheno-Ingushetia Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationDagestan Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationKrasnodar Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaUzbekistan  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeMoldova  Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeRussian Federation-European partEuropean part Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeUkraine incl. KrymYakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece incl. CreteGreuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly incl. Sardinia, SicilyGreuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance incl. CorsicaTutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain incl. BalearesTutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
4NaturalizedEuropeMiddle EuropeCzechoslovakia  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
4NaturalizedEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria (n.), Egypt (n.), Libya (possibly n.w.), Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • CAUCASUS: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Checheno-Ingushetia, Dagestan, Krasnodar]
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Europe
  • EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part], Moldova, Ukraine (incl. Krym)
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece (incl. Crete), Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily), Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain (incl. Baleares), France (incl. Corsica), Portugal
Naturalized
Europe
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Czechoslovakia, Hungary

Reference(s)
  1. Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
  2. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
  3. Yakovlev, G. P. et al. 1996. Legumes of Northern Eurasia
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966-. Flora palaestina.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=23668. Accessed 17 April 2026.