Also called white-flowered sweet clover, sweet clover, honey clover, tree clover, Bokhara clover and white melilot.

Part of 🍀︎ sweet clover  genus Melilotus in 🥜︎ legume / bean / pea  family Fabaceae in order Fabales.

Native to Eurasia.   Invasive > 🌐︎ global Invasive > 🇨🇦 Canada, 🇺🇸 USA Invasive > report it! Invasive > Michigan  Adobe Acrobat Reader file (page 54)

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Like most legumes, this plant cooperates with a bacterium that fixes atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants and animals.

That allows these plants to:

  • outcompete non-nitrogen-fixing plants in poorer soils, or
  • have seeds and foliage with more protein.

This makes their seeds and foliage more nutritious to plant-eaters.  And growing these plants may improve the quality of worn-out farmland and disturbed soils.

Learn more about ◼︎ 🍀︎ white sweet clover Melilotus alba

Management and Control (Wisconsin)  Adobe Acrobat Reader file Best Control Practices BCP (Ontario)  Adobe Acrobat Reader file and its Technical Bulletin  Adobe Acrobat Reader file

🔍︎ 🔍︎ images Discover Life Encyclopedia of Life Minnesota Wildflowers NRCS PLANTS db USFS Wikipedia

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🏠︎ terrestrial ☙ herbaceous plants