Taxon name
Medicago laciniata
(L.) Mill.
Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Scientific name
Medicago laciniata
(L.) Mill.
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
Species authority
(L.) Mill.
Taxonomic notes and synonyms listed
Medicago laciniata (L.) Mill. is a tertiary wild relative of <span class=""msoins0"">alfalfa (M. sativa L.) (Singh and Jauhar 2005).
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Least Concern
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
This species occurs throughout the Hajar Mountains and the Ru'us al-Jibal, in addition to scattered localities around the UAE. It has also been recently described from Jebel Hafeet. It is generally considered to be common within the country and is known to occur in at least one protected area. Although grazing may have an impact on this species, it is not currently known whether this poses a major threat, as the structure of the plant's seed pod may deter grazers. As a result, it is assessed as Least Concern.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
Within the UAE, this species was recently recorded from Jebel Hafeet and is also known from the Ru'us al-Jibal (Feulner 2011, Sakkir and Brown 2014). It is generally found within the Hajar Mountains, although localities may be scattered (Jongbloed et al. 2003). Globally, the native range of this species encompasses southern Africa, in addition to Macaronesia to Ethiopia and Tanzania, and on to India (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2019).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
This annual herb species is known to grow within gravel plain environments in low montane areas, along with garden and plantation habitats (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Mahmoud et al. 2018). The stems can grow up to 30 cm and the leaves have blunt tips with toothed edges (Jongbloed et al. 2003). In addition, the plant produces yellow flowers between February and April, while the seed pod has the form of a small prickly globe (Jongbloed et al. 2003). It is considered to be an important contributor to biomass in dune and stabilised sand environments (Ghazanfar and Fisher 1998). It is a crop wild relative of alfalfa, Medicago sativa (Kameswara Rao 2013).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
This species may be affected by grazing of goats within areas of its range (Norton et al. 2009, Shahid 2017). However, the bristly fruit of this species may provide a slight deterrent to potential browsers (Norton et al. 2009).
Publication
Allen, D.J., Westrip, J.R.S., Puttick, A., Harding, K.A., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Ali, H. 2021. UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants. Technical Report. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates, Dubai.
