| Melilotus officinalis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Faboideae |
| Genus: | Melilotus |
| Species: | M. officinalis |
| Binomial name | |
| Melilotus officinalis | |
Melilotus officinalis, known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot [1] and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia. [2]
Melilotus officinalis can be an annual or biennial plant, and is 120–180 centimetres (4–6 ft) high at maturity. [2] Leaves alternate on the stem and possess three leaflets. Yellow flowers bloom in spring and summer and produce fruit in pods typically containing one seed. Seeds can be viable for up to 30 years. Plants have large taproots and tend to grow in groups. [2] Plants have a characteristic sweet odor. [2]
Ribbed melilot is very similar in appearance to some other melilots, particularly tall melilot. Its fruits, however, are ribbed and glabrous (not hairy), the upper leaflets are more broadly oval, and the keel, or lower petal, is slightly shorter than the side petals (same length in tall melilot). [3] [4]
M. officinalis is native to Europe and Asia and has been introduced to North America as a forage crop. [2] It commonly grows in calcareous loamy and clay soils with a pH above 6.5 and can tolerate cold temperatures and drought; it does not tolerate standing water [2] or acidic soils, with a pH of 5.5 as the plant's lowest limit. [5] Common places where it can be found include open disturbed land, prairies, and savannahs, and it grows in full or partial sunlight. It is an invasive species in areas where it has been introduced, especially in open grasslands and woodlands where it shades and outcompetes native plant species. [2]
Sweet clover contains coumarin that converts to dicoumarol, which is a powerful anticoagulant toxin, when the plant becomes moldy. This can lead to bleeding diseases (internal hemorrhaging) and death in cattle. Consequently, hay containing the plant must be properly dried and cured, especially in wet environments. [6] [5]
The seeds are eaten by game birds, including grouse. [7]
Sweetclover can be used as pasture or livestock feed when properly cured. [8] It is most palatable in spring and early summer, but livestock may need time to adjust to the bitter taste of coumarin in the plant. Prior to World War II, before the common use of commercial agricultural fertilizers, the plant was commonly used as a cover crop to increase nitrogen content and improve subsoil water capacity in poor soils. [5] It is the most drought-tolerant of the commercially available legumes. [9] Sweet clover is a major source of nectar for domestic honey bees as hives near sweetclover can yield up to 200 pounds of honey in a year. [5]
Sweetclover has been used as a phytoremediation—phytodegradation plant for treatment of soils contaminated with dioxins. [10]
In the chemical industry, dicoumarol is extracted from the plant to produce rodenticides. [5]
When M. officinalis is invasive, it can be managed by mulching, hand-pulling, mowing, or herbicide applications such (e.g., 2,4-D) before flowering. Prescribed burns in late fall or early spring followed by another burn in late spring can reduce the number of plants before seed set. [2]
The Gleditsia triacanthos (Honey Locust), also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey locust trees are highly adaptable to different environments, and the species has been introduced worldwide. Outside its natural range it can be an aggressive, damaging invasive species.
Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known in its native territory as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is considered an invasive species in some areas, such as the temperate east coast of Australia where the cultivar "Frisia" was widely planted as a street tree before being classed as a weed. Another common name is false acacia, a literal translation of the specific name.
In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pests, diseases, biodiversity and wildlife in an agroecosystem—an ecological system managed and shaped by humans. Cover crops can increase microbial activity in the soil, which has a positive effect on nitrogen availability, nitrogen uptake in target crops, and crop yields. Cover crops reduce water pollution risks and remove CO2 from the atmosphere .Cover crops may be an off-season crop planted after harvesting the cash crop. Cover crops are nurse crops in that they increase the survival of the main crop being harvested, and are often grown over the winter. In the United States, cover cropping may cost as much as $35 per acre.
Coumarin or 2H-chromen-2-one is an aromatic organic chemical compound with formula C9H6O2. Its molecule can be described as a benzene molecule with two adjacent hydrogen atoms replaced by an unsaturated lactone ring −(CH)=(CH)−(C=O)−O−, forming a second six-membered heterocycle that shares two carbons with the benzene ring. It belongs to the benzopyrone chemical class and considered as a lactone.
Melilotus, known as melilot, sweet clover, and kumoniga, is a genus in the family Fabaceae. Members are known as common grassland plants and as weeds of cultivated ground. Originally from Europe and Asia, it is now found worldwide.
Melilotus albus, known as honey clover, white melilot (UK), Bokhara clover (Australia), white sweetclover (US), and sweet clover, is a nitrogen-fixing legume in the family Fabaceae. Melilotus albus is considered a valuable honey plant and source of nectar and is often grown for forage. Its characteristic sweet odor, intensified by drying, is derived from coumarin.
Trifolium incarnatum, known as crimson clover or Italian clover, is a species of herbaceous flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to most of Europe. It has been introduced to other areas, including the United States and Japan.
Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alfalfa.
Inga edulis, known as ice-cream bean, ice-cream-bean, joaquiniquil, cuaniquilguama or guaba, is a fruit native to South America. It is in the mimosoid tribe of the legume family Fabaceae. It is widely grown, especially by Indigenous Amazonians, for shade, food, timber, medicine, and production of the alcoholic beverage cachiri. It is popular in Peru, Ecuador, Pernambuco-Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana and Colombia. The taxonomic name Inga is derived from its name with the Tupí people of South America (ingá) while the species name edulis is Latin for "edible". The common name "ice-cream bean" alludes to the sweet flavor and smooth texture of the pulp.
Melilotus indicus, sometimes incorrectly written Melilotus indica, is a yellow-flowered herb native to northern Africa, Europe and Asia, but naturalized throughout the rest of the world.
Kummerowia stipulacea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Korean clover. It is native to China, Japan, Korea, and Russia, and it is present in the eastern United States as an introduced species.
Kummerowia striata is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Japanese clover and common lespedeza. It is native to much of Asia and it is present in the eastern United States as an introduced species.
Hedysarum boreale is a species of flowering plant in the Fabaceae, or legume family, and is known by the common names Utah sweetvetch, boreal sweet-vetch, northern sweetvetch, and plains sweet-broom. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in northern and western regions of Canada and the United States. The ssp. mackenzii can even be found in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
Leucaena retusa is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names littleleaf leadtree, goldenball leadtree, wahoo tree, and lemonball. It is native to Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico and Texas in the United States. It also occurs in New Mexico.
Astragalus ripleyi is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Ripley's milkvetch. It is native to southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States.
Cirsium perplexans is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Rocky Mountain thistle and Adobe Hills thistle. It is endemic to Colorado in the United States, where it occurs in the Colorado and Gunnison River Valleys in the Rocky Mountains.
Alysicarpus vaginalis is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to parts of Africa and Asia, and it has been introduced to other continents, such as Australia and the Americas. It is cultivated as a fodder for livestock, for erosion control, and as a green manure. Common names include alyce clover, buffalo clover, buffalo-bur, one-leaf clover, and white moneywort.
Melilotus wolgicus, the Volga sweet-clover or Russian melilot, is native to Russia and Kazakhstan, where it is common in the lower Volga and Don valleys. The species is also naturalized in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where the climate is similar to that of its native range. The plant has been discussed as a potential forage crop, as it is tolerant to cold and to drought, and reportedly more productive than M. albus.
Senna odorata, which is also known as fragrant senna, spreading cassia, sweet-scented cassia or southern cassia, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family that is native to Australia.
