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Bur Medick

Medicago minima

Found in fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, on ballast. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

—
Not native

Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 53%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to moist

At a glance

Bloom
April to August

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

57CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Medicago

  • Achyra rantalisGarden Webworm Moth
  • Agnorisma badinodisPale-Banded Dart
  • Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
  • Agrotis ipsilonIpsilon Dart, Black Cutworm, Greasy Cutworm
  • Agrotis venerabilisVenerable Dart, Dusky Cut-Worm
  • Agrotis vetustaOld Man Dart
  • Amyna strictaEight-Spot Moth
  • Anagrapha falciferaCelery Looper Moth
  • Anticarsia gemmatalisVelvetbean Caterpillar Moth
  • Apantesis figurataFigured Tiger Moth
Show all 57
  • Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
  • Argyrotaenia ivanaIvana Leafroller Moth
  • Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
  • Caenurgina crassiusculaForage Looper Moth, Clover Looper, Range Grass Moth
  • Caenurgina erechteaClover Looper Moth, Common Grass Moth, Forage Looper
  • Cecropterus pyladesNorthern Cloudywing
  • Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
  • Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
  • Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
  • Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
  • Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
  • Elaphria grataGrateful Midget
  • Eurema dairaBarred Yellow, Barred Sulphur
  • Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
  • Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
  • Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
  • Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
  • Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
  • Heliothis phloxiphagaSpotted Straw Sun Moth, Darker Spotted Straw Moth
  • Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
  • Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
  • Iridopsis humariaSmall Purplish Gray
  • Iridopsis larvariaBent-Line Gray
  • Lacinipolia explicataExplicit Groundcat, Explicit Arches
  • Lacinipolia renigeraBristly Ground Cat, Bristly Cutworm Moth, Kidney Spotted "Mamestra"
  • Loxostege cereralisAlfafa Webworm
  • Macrochilo litophoraAngulate Fan-Foot, Brown-Lined Owlet
  • Megalographa bilobaBilobed Looper Moth
  • Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
  • Nomophila nearcticaLucerne Moth, American Celery Webworm
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Phoebis sennaeCloudless Sulphur
  • Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
  • Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
  • Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
  • Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
  • Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
  • Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
  • Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
  • Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
  • Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
  • Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
  • Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
  • Zerene cesoniaSouthern Dogface
  • Xenotemna pallorana
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Medicago

  • Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
  • Branta canadensisCanada Goose
  • Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
  • Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
  • Centrocercus urophasianusGreater Sage-Grouse
  • Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
  • Oreortyx pictusMountain Quail
  • Perdix perdixGray Partridge
  • Pheucticus melanocephalusBlack-headed Grosbeak
  • Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Fabaceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “April to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as

Downy Bur Clover; Little Bur Clover

Conservation status

Alabama rankSNA
Global rankGNR
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources