Flora of North America species comparison

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Melilotus officinalis

common melilot, field or rib or yellow melilot, rib melilot, sweetclover, yellow melilot, yellow sweet-clover
Habit Herbs usually biennial, sometimes annual, (15–)30–280 cm.
Stems

decumbent to erect.
Leaves

stipules lanceolate or subulate, 3–6(–12) mm, margins entire;

leaflet blades obovate, obovate-oblong, ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, 8–25 × 4–15 mm, margins dentate.
Racemes

30–70(–80)–flowered.
Pedicels

(1.5–)2–2.5 mm.
Flowers

4–7 mm;

corolla yellow;

ovary glabrous.
Legumes

ovoid, 2.5–5 mm, transversely rugose, areoles notably elongated, glabrous.
Seeds

1 (or 2), ovoid, obovoid, or ellipsoid, (1.5–)1.8–2(–2.5) mm.
2n

= 16.

Melilotus officinalis
Phenology Flowering spring–fall.
Habitat Grasslands, slopes, plains, hillsides, waste places, roadsides, cultivated fields.
Elevation 0–3100 m. (0–10200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, South America, Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Melilotus officinalis is occasionally grown as a forage crop, but it is generally considered to be an undesirable weed.

(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. indicus, M. sulcatus, M. wolgicus
Synonyms Trifolium officinale, Trigonella officinalis
Name authority (Linnaeus) Lamarck: Fl. Franç. 2: 594. (1779)
Web links 
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).



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