Water medick, Coastal Medick, Strand Medick,
Hebrew: אספסת החוף, Arabic: الفصة الشاطئية
| Scientific name: | Medicago littoralis Rhode ex Loisel. | |
| Synonym name: | Medicago arenaria Ten., Medicago cylindracea DC. | |
| Common name: | Water medick, Coastal Medick, Strand Medick | |
| Hebrew name: | אספסת החוף | |
| Arabic name: | الفصة الشاطئية | |
| Family: | Fabaceae, Papilionaceae, קטניות, פרפרניים |
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| Life form: | Annual | |
| Stems: | 20-40 cm tall; multiple lateral branching from near the base; glabrous in lower part, pubescent in upper part | |
| Leaves: | Alternate, compound, trifoliate, dentate or serrate; stipule | |
| Inflorescence: | Racemes 1–6 flowers of which not more than two fruiting | |
| Flowers: | Hermaphrodite; 3-6mm, corolla yellow; calyx with simple hairs, teeth shorter than tube; pollen grains cylindrical, spindle-shaped with 3 germinal apertures | |
| Fruits / pods: | Pods with 2-6 adpressed spirally coils; spiny; seeds 1-2 per coil, yellow to brownish | |
| Flowering Period: | February, March, April, May | |
| Habitat: | Sand | |
| Distribution: | Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands | |
| Chorotype: | Mediterranean | |
| Summer shedding: | Ephemeral |
Derivation of the botanical name: Medicago, from Medike, or medick, the Greek name for alfalfa, which came to Greece from Medea. littoralis, of the sea shore; littoral. inermis, unarmed; without prickles, not spiny. arenaria, arena, sand; slime, mud; relating to sand. cylindracea, cylindrical. The Hebrew name: אספסת, aspheset, Aramaic-Syrian: אספסתא; from Persian ispist, isjist, whence also Arabic isfast.
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