Medicago polymorpha Linnaeus var. minima Linnaeus, Species Plantarum 2: 780. 1753.

RCN: 5720.

Lectotype (Heyn in Bull. Res. Council Israel, Sect. D, Bot. 7: 168. 1959): [icon] "Medica echinata, minima" in Bauhin & Cherler, Hist. Pl. Univ. 2: 386. 1651.

Current name: Medicago minima (L.) Bartal. ( Fabaceae: Faboideae).

Note: Shinners (in Rhodora 58: 3. 1956) questioned whether the recombination of var. minima at species rank was made by Linnaeus (in Fl. Anglica: 21. 1954). Shinners suggested that this is an error of interpretation, as Linnaeus subsequently continued to treat the taxon as a variety of M. polymorpha . Shinners accepted Bartalini (1776) as the first to make the combination at species rank, as did Stearn (Introd. Ray’s Syn. Meth. Stirp. Brit. (Ray Soc. ed.): 57. 1973). Greuter (in Candollea 44: 563. 1989) disagreed, arguing that the combination dates from 1754. Brummitt & Meikle (in Watsonia 19: 181-183. 1993) argued, however, that there are typographical variants of the thesis which make it unreasonable to interpret names such as this (though they focussed particularly on two names in Primula) as a new combination.