Melilotus albus
Melilotus indicus
honey-clover, white melilot, white sweet-clover
annual yellow or Indian or small-flower sweet-clover, annual yellow sweet-clover, Indian sweet-clover, small-flower melilot, small-flower sweet clover, small-flower yellow sweet-clover, sour clover, yellow sweetclover
erect or ascending.
erect or ascending.
stipules lanceolate-subulate to setaceous, 4–6(–10) mm, margins usually entire, sometimes toothed at base;
leaflet blades narrowly oblong-obovate to suborbiculate-oblong, 10–24(–50) × 5–12(–15) mm, margins dentate.
stipules lanceolate-subulate to setaceous, (3–)4–6(–8) mm, margins subentire (entire or toothed at base);
leaflet blades lanceolate-oblong, oblanceolate, or obovate, (8–)12–25 × (2–)7–10 mm, margins dentate.
40–80(–120)-flowered.
10–50-flowered.
1–1.5(–2) mm.
1 mm.
3.5–5(–6) mm;
corolla white;
ovary glabrous.
1.5–3 mm;
corolla yellow;
ovary glabrous.
obovoid, subglobose, or globose-ovoid, 3–5 mm, reticulate-veined, glabrous.
subglobose, 1.5–3(–4) mm, strongly reticulate-veined, glabrous.
1 or 2(or 3), ovoid, (1.7–)2–2.5(–3.5) mm.
1 (or 2), ovoid, 1.8–2.3 mm.
= 16.
= 16 [18 (Asia)].
Melilotus albus
Melilotus indicus
Melilotus albus is extremely variable in Eurasia, and has been divided into many infraspecific taxa. It is the most important economic species in Melilotus, often grown as a crop, green manure, and honey plant, and posing a widespread weed problem.
Essentially all white-petaled Melilotus plants growing outside of cultivation in North America are M. albus; herbarium specimens often do not show the color well, sometimes resulting in misidentification, particularly between M. albus and M. officinalis. Aside from petal color, the species are quite similar. The venation areolae on the mature pods tend to differ: the raised venation ridges tend to form an irregular reticulation on the mature fruits of M. albus; they tend to form transverse areolae on the fruits of M. officinalis (S. J. Darbyshire and E. Small 2018). Although M. albus and M. officinalis are sometimes merged, there are very strong barriers to interbreeding between the two (G. T. Webster 1955; M. Maekawa et al. 1991), in addition to geographical and ecological differences, which justify their continued recognition as separate species.
P. Coulot and P. Rabaute (2013) included Melilotus albus in Trigonella sulcata (Desfontaines) Coulot & Rabaute (treated here as M. sulcatus). Most botanical literature incorrectly lists the authority for Melilotus albus as Desrousseaux in Lamarck instead of Medikus.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Melilotus indicus occasionally has been grown as a forage crop in the southern United States; it is generally considered to be an undesirable weed.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
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IL Wildflowers, 
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LA Plants, 
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WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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- Local floras: CA, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, Go Botany, LA Plants, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
