sweet clover
Family
FabaceaeScientific Name
Melilotus alba
Other Common Names:
white sweetclover
yellow sweetclover
Synonyms (former Scientific Names):
Melilotus lutea
Melilotus albus
Melilotus alba
Melilotus arvensis
Melilotus leucanthu
Habit
Seedlings have oblong cotyledons, green underneath and whitish-green on the top. Plants can reach 8 ft tall. Stems are branched and roots penetrate deep in to the soil.
Leaves
Leaves are compound with three club-shaped leaflets 1/2-1 in long. Leaf bases have small papery attachments.
Identifying Characteristics
Sweet scent, white pea like flowers and compound leaves with 3 leaflets. White sweet clover is toxic to livestock and seeds are a serious contaminant of cereal grains. This species is also an alternate host to several diseases i.e. beet curly top, aster yellows pea mosaic, pea mottle, bean yellow mosaic, and tobacco streak.
Flower Seed Head
Found in the leaf axils and on the ends of branches, flowers are white and fragrant. Flowers are arranged along a stem 2-6 in long with 40-80 flowers in each cluster. Flowers are much like those of cultivated peas.
Seed Fruit
Fruit are smooth pods black to dark gray in color containing one or two seeds. Seeds are 2.5 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, kidney-shaped, and yellow in color.
Where Found
Found throughout the United States and Canada. White sweet clover is often found in waste areas and roadsides.
Growth Habit
upright and nonwoody
Thorns or Spines
not present
Approximate Flower Diameter
pencil
Dominant Flower Color
Varies:
white,
yellow
Flower Symmetry
radial symmetery
Leaf Hairs
no hairs
Leaf Shape
Varies:
round,
oval
Leaf Arrangement
alternate
Leaf Margin
Varies:
entire,
serrated,
wavy
Leaf Structure
trifoliate
Leaf Stalk
shorter than leaf
Stem Hairs
no hairs
Stem Cross Section
round or oval
Milky Sap
not present
Root Structure
taproot
Life Cycle
biennial
Ochrea
not present
Plant Type
Herb