{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the legume family}} {{Speciesbox |image = Medicago arborea1.jpg |status = |status_system = |status_ref = |genus = Medicago |species = arborea |authority = L. (1753) |subdivision_ranks = Subspecies |subdivision = 3; see text |subdivision_ref = <ref name = powo>{{cite web |title=''Medico arborea'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:506064-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=26 August 2024}}</ref> |synonyms = *''Medica arborea'' {{small|(L.) Mill. (1768)}} *''Rhodusia arborea'' <small>(L.) Vassilcz. (1972)</small> *''Trigonella arborea'' <small>(L.) Vassilcz. (1953)</small> |synonyms_ref = <ref name = powo/> }}

'''''Medicago arborea''''' is a flowering plant species in the pea and bean family, Fabaceae. Common names include '''moon trefoil''', '''shrub medick''', '''alfalfa arborea''', and '''tree medick'''.

==Description== The shrub is {{convert|1-4|m|ft|0}} high and wide and is pale yellow in colour. Its stems are erect and terete while its stipules are triangular and {{convert|5-8|mm|frac=8}} long. Its petioles are {{convert|2-4|cm|frac=4}} long with obovate to obcordate leaflets.

Flowers are scattered in 6–10 racemes and are {{convert|2-2.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long with axillar peduncles which are {{convert|3-5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}}. The corolla is of orange colour and is {{convert|12-15|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}}. The bracts are {{convert|2|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long while its pedicels are {{convert|5|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long. Its legume is coiled in 0.5 to 1.5 spirals which are {{convert|12-15|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide and are pubescent at the center. The seeds are {{convert|4|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}} long.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=242331792|title=Medicago arborea|publisher=Flora of China|volume=778|issue=1753}}</ref>

''M.&nbsp;arborea'' is sometimes misidentified as ''Cytisus'', which it resembles.<ref name="Lesins">{{cite book|last=Lesinš|first=Karlis Adolfs|author2=Lesinš, Irma|title=Genus Medicago (Leguminosae)|publisher=Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers|year=1979|location=The Hague, The Netherlands|pages=132|isbn=90-6193-598-9}}</ref>

==Subspecies== Three subspecies are accepted.<ref name = powo/> *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''arborea'' (synonyms ''Cytisus neapolitanus'' {{small|Cohen-Stuart}} and ''Medicago arborescens'' {{small|C.Presl}}) – Spain, Balearic Islands, Italy, Sardinia, Sicily, Greece, Crete, East Aegean Islands, and Turkey *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''citrina'' {{small|(Font Quer) O.Bolòs & Vigo}} (synonyms ''M. arborea'' var. ''citrina'' {{small|Font Quer}} and ''Medicago citrina'' {{small|(Font Quer) Greuter}} – eastern Spain and Balearic Islands *''Medicago arborea'' subsp. ''strasseri'' {{small|(Greuter, Matthäs & Risse) Sobr.-Vesp. & Ceresuela}} (synonym ''Medicago strasseri'' {{small|Greuter, Matthäs & Risse}}) – Crete

==Distribution and habitat== It is native to several Mediterranean Basin countries – Spain and the Balearic Islands, Italy including and Sardinia and Sicily, Greece including Crete and the East Aegean Islands, and Turkey.<ref name="powo" /> It primarily grows on rocky shores among shrubby vegetation.

== Ecology == It forms a symbiotic relationship with the bacterium ''Sinorhizobium meliloti'', which is capable of nitrogen fixation.

== Uses == It is the only member of the genus ''Medicago'' which is used as an ornamental.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/taxa/5780.shtml International Legume Database & Information Services] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071224170844/http://www.dipbot.unict.it/orto/0645-1.html Medicago arborea L.] *[http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Medicago+arborea Medicago arborea - L.]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1668432}}

arborea Category:Flora of the Balearic Islands Category:Flora of Crete Category:Flora of the East Aegean Islands Category:Flora of Greece Category:Flora of Italy Category:Flora of Malta Category:Flora of Sardinia Category:Flora of Sicily Category:Flora of Spain Category:Flora of Turkey Category:Matorral shrubland Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Trifolieae-stub}}