FNA: Melilotus indicus vs. Melilotus wolgicus

	Melilotus indicus	Melilotus wolgicus
	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	sweetclover, volga sweet-clover
Habit	Herbs annual, (10–)15–60 cm.	Herbs biennial, 40–120(–150) cm.
Stems	erect or ascending.	erect.
Leaves	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.	stipules linear-setaceous or subulate, 6–8(–10) mm, margins entire; leaflet blades rhombic-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, or linear, 10–30 × 2–8 mm, margins dentate or entire.
Racemes	10–50-flowered.	25–60-flowered.
Pedicels	1 mm.	2–4 mm.
Flowers	1.5–3 mm; corolla yellow; ovary glabrous.	3–3.5 mm; corolla white; ovary glabrous.
Legumes	subglobose, 1.5–3(–4) mm, strongly reticulate-veined, glabrous.	obovoid, 4–5 mm, distinctly reticulate-veined, glabrous.
Seeds	1 (or 2), ovoid, 1.8–2.3 mm.	usually 1 (or 2), oblong-ovoid, 2.5 mm.
2n	= 16 [18 (Asia)].	= 16 [Eurasia].

	Melilotus indicus	Melilotus wolgicus
Phenology	Flowering spring–fall.	Flowering spring–summer.
Habitat	Waste places, roadsides, grasslands.	Gravel pits, wasteland, drainage ditches, sandy banks.
Elevation	0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)	200–500 m. (700–1600 ft.)
Distribution	AL; AR; AZ; CA; DE; FL; GA; ID; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MS; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OK; OR; PA; SC; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; NS; Asia; Greenland; Europe; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America (Honduras), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile), Pacific Islands (New Zealand)] [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	MB; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	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.)	The Manitoba vouchers of Melilotus wolgicus are mostly G. A. Stevenson collections at DAO from the Brandon area and are almost certainly established escapes from the extensive experimental cultivation of Melilotus species by Stevenson; it has also been observed persisting in the forage plot area of the Research Station, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but does not appear to have spread elsewhere. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 11.	FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa	Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Melilotus	Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Melilotus
Sibling taxa	M. albus, M. altissimus, M. officinalis, M. sulcatus, M. wolgicus	M. albus, M. altissimus, M. indicus, M. officinalis, M. sulcatus
Synonyms	Trifolium indicum, Trigonella smallii
Name authority	(Linnaeus) Allioni: Fl. Pedem. 1: 308. (1785) — (as indica)	Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 3: 648. (1814) — (as wolgica)
Web links	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	WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

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

sweetclover, volga sweet-clover

Habit

Herbs annual, (10–)15–60 cm.

Herbs biennial, 40–120(–150) cm.

Stems

erect or ascending.

erect.

Leaves

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.

stipules linear-setaceous or subulate, 6–8(–10) mm, margins entire;

leaflet blades rhombic-ovate to oblong-lanceolate, or linear, 10–30 × 2–8 mm, margins dentate or entire.

Racemes

10–50-flowered.

25–60-flowered.

Pedicels

1 mm.

2–4 mm.

Flowers

1.5–3 mm;

corolla yellow;

ovary glabrous.

3–3.5 mm;

corolla white;

ovary glabrous.

Legumes

subglobose, 1.5–3(–4) mm, strongly reticulate-veined, glabrous.

obovoid, 4–5 mm, distinctly reticulate-veined, glabrous.

Seeds

1 (or 2), ovoid, 1.8–2.3 mm.

usually 1 (or 2), oblong-ovoid, 2.5 mm.

= 16 [18 (Asia)].

= 16 [Eurasia].

Melilotus indicus

Melilotus wolgicus

Phenology

Flowering spring–fall.

Flowering spring–summer.

Habitat

Waste places, roadsides, grasslands.

Gravel pits, wasteland, drainage ditches, sandy banks.

Elevation

0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)

200–500 m. (700–1600 ft.)

Distribution

AL; AR; AZ; CA; DE; FL; GA; ID; KY; LA; MA; ME; MI; MN; MS; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OK; OR; PA; SC; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; NS; Asia; Greenland; Europe; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Central America (Honduras), South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile), Pacific Islands (New Zealand)]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

MB; SK; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

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.)

The Manitoba vouchers of Melilotus wolgicus are mostly G. A. Stevenson collections at DAO from the Brandon area and are almost certainly established escapes from the extensive experimental cultivation of Melilotus species by Stevenson; it has also been observed persisting in the forage plot area of the Research Station, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, but does not appear to have spread elsewhere.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source

FNA vol. 11.

Parent taxa

Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Melilotus

Sibling taxa

M. albus, M. altissimus, M. officinalis, M. sulcatus, M. wolgicus

M. albus, M. altissimus, M. indicus, M. officinalis, M. sulcatus

Synonyms

Trifolium indicum, Trigonella smallii

Name authority

(Linnaeus) Allioni: Fl. Pedem. 1: 308. (1785) — (as indica)

Poiret in J. Lamarck et al.: Encycl., suppl. 3: 648. (1814) — (as wolgica)

Web links

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

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

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Flora of North America species comparison

Melilotus indicus

Melilotus wolgicus

Melilotus indicus

Melilotus wolgicus