Wildflowers Found in Oregon

Black Medic (Yellow Trefoil)

Medicago lupulina - Locally common, late spring-early summer, annual or perennial, 4-20 in. Stems prostrate to upright. Plant bears fine hairs. Leaves consist of 3 leaflets, each 1/5-4/5 in. long, finely toothed on upper 1/2. Flowers tiny, yellow, pea-like, in round to spiky clusters at top of stalks arising along stems. Seedpods black, tightly coiled about 5 times, without prickles. Grows in disturbed areas and forests at low to high elevations. A native of Eurasia. Introduced as a forage crop, now grows over most of the United States. A common lawn weed. Nonnative.