Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Melilotus officinalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Learn more about Yellow Sweetclover from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The similar M. albus and M. officinalis are apparently incompatible (Isely 1998) and differ in less obvious ways than flower color; they should not be synonymized. To learn other differences, read more in Weakley's Flora (2022)
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Melilotus officinalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Melilotus officinalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Melilotus officinalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-15-002:
Melilotus officinalis FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melilotus officinalis
COMMON NAME:
Yellow Sweetclover, Yellow Melilot, Ribbed Melilot
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_meof_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_meof_010_lvd
)
Roxanna Martin rlm52009_007
May Spartanburg County SC
M. albus & officinalis are apparently incompatible should not be synonymized, per Weakley's Flora.
)
Roxanna Martin rlm5710_163
May Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow s040519_a
May Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow s040519_ab
May Greenville County SC
Roadside
Inflorescence a slender, axillary, pedunculate, spike-like raceme, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow s050622_a
June Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow s050622_b
June Greenville County SC
Roadside
Leaflets mostly oblanceolate to obovate or somewhat elliptic, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
leaves that are trifoliolate and pinnately compound
)
JK Marlow jkm060710_001
July Tucker County WV
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Melilotus officinalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Melilotus officinalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Melilotus officinalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Melilotus officinalis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-15-002:
Melilotus officinalis
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melilotus officinalis
926
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Eurasia
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
This plant may be causing problems in natural areas outside its native range, according to authorities such as:
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden
- Kentucky Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2013
- Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2009
LEAVES:
Odd-pinnately compound: 3 leaflets
Mostly alternate
Leaves are subtended by stipules.
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Yellow
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer/Fall
Light brown
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p058
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p231
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p032
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p126
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p200
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p137
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p174
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p086
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".