Flora of Israel: Medicago littoralis

Medicago littoralis, Medicago arenaria, Medicago cylindracea, Water medick, Coastal Medick, Strand Medick,

Hebrew: אספסת החוף, Arabic: الفصة الشاطئية

Scientific name:   Medicago littoralis Rhode ex Loisel.
Synonym name:   Medicago arenaria Ten., Medicago cylindracea DC.
Common name:   Water medick, Coastal Medick, Strand Medick
Hebrew name:   אספסת החוף
Arabic name:   الفصة الشاطئية
Family:   Fabaceae, Papilionaceae, קטניות, פרפרניים


Life form:   Annual
Stems:   20-40 cm tall; multiple lateral branching from near the base; glabrous in lower part, pubescent in upper part
Leaves:   Alternate, compound, trifoliate, dentate or serrate; stipule
Inflorescence:   Racemes 1–6 flowers of which not more than two fruiting
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite; 3-6mm, corolla yellow; calyx with simple hairs, teeth shorter than tube; pollen grains cylindrical, spindle-shaped with 3 germinal apertures
Fruits / pods:   Pods with 2-6 adpressed spirally coils; spiny; seeds 1-2 per coil, yellow to brownish
Flowering Period:   February, March, April, May
Habitat:   Sand
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Ephemeral


Derivation of the botanical name:

Medicago, from Medike, or medick, the Greek name for alfalfa, which came to Greece from Medea.

littoralis, of the sea shore; littoral.
inermis, unarmed; without prickles, not spiny.
arenaria, arena, sand; slime, mud; relating to sand.
cylindracea, cylindrical.
The Hebrew name: אספסת, aspheset, Aramaic-Syrian: אספסתא; from Persian ispist, isjist, whence also Arabic isfast.

  • The standard author abbreviation Rhode is used to indicate Johann Gottlieb Rhode (1762 – 1827), German .
  • The standard author abbreviation Loisel. is used to indicate Jean Louis August Loiseleur-Deslongchamps (1774 – 1849), a French botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Moris is used to indicate Giuseppe Giacinto Moris (1796 – 1869), an Italian botanist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Ten. is used to indicate Michele Tenore (1780 – 1861), an Italian botanist active in Naples, Italy.
  • The standard author abbreviation DC. is used to indicate Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778 – 1841), a Swiss botanist.