Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Yellow sweet clover

YELLOW SWEET CLOVER

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Melilotus officinalis L.

Riley County, Kansas

Biennial or sometimes annual

Height: 1-5 feet

Family: Fabaceae - Bean Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August, September

Stems:

Erect or ascending, much branched, glabrous to sparsely pubescent.

Leaves:

Alternate, pinnately 3-foliolate, stalked; leaflets oblanceolate to egg-shaped, .4 to 1 inch long, .2 to .8 inch wide, glabrous; margins toothed.

Inflorescences:

Raceme, 2 to 6 inches long, spike-like, 30-70-flowered, from leaf axils.

Flowers:

Calyces short, bell-shaped, lobes 5, nearly equal; tips pointed; corollas papilionaceous, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, yellow; stamens 10, 9 united, 1 free.

Fruits:

Pods, egg-shaped, 1/10 to 1/5 inch long, glabrous, brown, usually 1-seeded; seeds yellowish brown.

Habitat:

Disturbed sites, rangeland, roadsides, waste areas.

Origin:

Introduced from Eurasia. Escaped from cultivation to waste places.

Forage Value:

Provides fair forage value for livestock and deer but can be toxic to livestock when moldy.

Uses:

Sweetclover is sometimes used for forage and soil stabilization. It can become a problem weed because it is one of the first plants to appear on disturbed sites. It is an excellent plant for honey production.

Comments:

Yellow sweet clover may be more abundant in some years than in others. Like alfalfa (Medicago sativa), it has a high water consumption rate, and can cause bloat in livestock. The leaves have a vanilla-like odor when crushed.

See white sweet clover Melilotus alba.

Yellow sweet clover flowers