Medicago littoralis is a resilient plant which is able to survive in the hot dry environment of the sea shore or rocky cliffs near the sea. It is a sparsely branched prostrate plant which is covered in hairs but with glabrous, hairless, fruits. it has small yellow pea flowers singly or in small groups along the length of the stems .The fruits are a flattened  spiral with teeth; they are similar to those of Medicago polymorpha but usually somewhat smaller.