Μηδική η μποναροτιάνα
Etymology of Medicago bonarotiana: The term "Medicago" derives from "Μήδια" [Media], a historical geographic area occupied by the Medi that occupied a large part of today’s central and western Iran south of the Caspian Sea, the territory from which the ancient Greeks thought the plant originated; from this derived the Ancient Greek word for plant "μηδική" [medice], meaning "of Media". Medicago bonarotiana is named after Italian botanist Antonio Bonaroti (1730-1790), who was the first to describe the species in 1786.
There are at least 25 Medicago taxa in the wild Cypriot habitat (plus another domesticated one), of which one species appears exclusively in the occupied north. Another one's existence is questionable.
Medicago bonarotiana is a rare plant in Cyprus. It is encountered in western, and central-northern Cyprus. Its flowering period is between March and April.
How to identify Medicago bonarotiana:
M. bonarotiana has a similar fruit with orbicularis and blancheana.
Orbicularis has a rather flat, discoid fruit, 12-16 mm in diameter, whilst the other two have some pod coils that are conspicuously imbricate (as in a stack of bowls - not rather flat). Additionally, obricularis a glabrous pod, and the other two have a pod with a slight pubescence.
The key difference between blancheana and bonarotiana is that the first has spines on the pod, whilst the second doesn't.
