Black medick
A very common small yellow medick of meadows and verges; no honey on its own, but its long flowering gives bees a steady minor source.
- Nectar
- Medium
- Pollen
- Medium
- Flowering
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
- Height
- 0.1-0.6 m
- Life cycle
- Annual
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Black medick is one of the humblest but most widespread members of the clover family. Its flowers are very small, with 10-50 of them gathered in a ball-shaped head; honey bees take the nectar easily, but each flower holds little. It therefore becomes a noteworthy source only on meadows and fallows where it forms a wide cover.
Flowering
It flowers on and off from late April to September. Because it quickly reflowers on mown meadows, it gives bees a small but regular food supply during the summer dearth.
Honey and pollen
No honey is produced under its own name; it enters meadow and highland multifloral honeys in small amounts. Its pollen contribution is also moderate, and it matters in addition for wild bees.
Note for the beekeeper
It likes dry, calcareous and poor soils, and is a cheap, robust component of flowering meadow mixtures. Its curled pods, which turn black, give it the English name 'black medick'.