Plants of Louisiana

Melilotus officinalis

yellow sweetclover, yellow sweet clover, ribbed melilot, field melilot, cornilla real, yellow sweet-clover
Family

Fabaceae

Leaf Arrangement

alternate

Leaf Attachment

petiolate

Leaf Type

compound, trifoliolate

Growth Form

forb

Flower Color

white, yellow

Flower Month

March - October

Height (meters)

0.4 - 2.0

Milky Sap

No

Armed/Unarmed

Unarmed

Origin

introduced

Lifespan

annual, biennial, perennial

Growing Season

Warm season

Wetland Class

FACU

Prairie Coefficient of Conservatism

-1

Field Characters

Yellow sweetclover is a biennial forb with stems that are usually hairless. The leaves of yellow sweetclover are trifoliate and subtended by a lanceolate stipule 5-8 mm long. M. indicus is a similar species but has smaller flowers (1-3 mm) and wide stipules.

Animal Use

The following information is for the genus Melilotus: Animals that eat the seeds: Greater prairie chicken, Gambel quail, Animals that eat the plant: Muskrat, Eastern cottontail rabbit, Antelope, White-tailed deer (Martin et al. 1951).

Natural History

Melilotus indica is believed to be self-fertilized (USDA 1948).

Habitat

A weed of waste places, fields, roadsides.