Melilotus albus

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Distribution Map: Based on vouchered plant specimens only. View county names by placing the mouse cursor over a particular county.

Family:FABACEAE
Species:Melilotus albus Medik.
Common Name:White Sweet Clover; White Melilot
Habitat:**
Associated Ecological Communities:**
Growth Habit:Herb
Duration:Biennial
Category:Vascular
USDA Symbol:MEAL2
Plant Notes:White Sweet Clover is an introduced herbaceous annual or biennial in the Bean family (Fabaceae). It is native to Eurasian. White Sweet Clover has been widely planted for forage and for erosion control and now occurs in most temperate areas around the world. In Alabama it can be found statewide but is particularly common in central and northern Alabama in areas with clayey or limey soils. It occurs in pastures, on roadsides, along railroads, in cedar glades, and in prairies. White Sweet Clover is an annual or biennial with a tap root. The stems are 3-6 feet in height and often branched. The stems are green in color and glabrous. All parts of the plant are fragrant, and the odor intensifies when the plant is dried. Leaves are alternate, petiolate, and trifoliate. The leaflets are oblong to lanceolate in outline, serrate or entire. The upper surface of the leaflet is dark green and glabrous and the lower surface in lighter green and pubescent with appressed hairs. Flowers are produced in narrow terminal racemes. The flowers are papilionaceous and white in color. The calyx has 5 teeth. The fruit is an ovoid legume containing 1-2 seed. White Sweet Clover is often planted for forage and along the sides of roads for erosion control. The roots form an association with rhizobial bacterial that fix nitrogen so White Sweet Clover can be used as a green manure to enrich the soil. It is considered an excellent nectar plant for honeybees. White Sweet Clover is a larval food plant for Reakirt's Blue (Hemiargus isola), Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus), Clouded Sulfur (Colias philodice), and Orange Sulfur (Colias eurytheme) butterflies.--A. Diamond
Taxonomic Notes:**
Status:Not Native
References:**
Specimen: View specimen details in the Alabama Herbarium Consortium Specimen Database

** Not applicable or data not available.

Classification

FamilyFABACEAE - Pea/Bean family
Genus Melilotus
Species Melilotus albus Medik. - White Sweet Clover; White Melilot

Citation

Citation Melilotus albus Medikus, Vorles. Churpfälz. Phys.-Ökon. Ges. 2: 382. 1787.
Basionym: **
Type: **

** Not applicable or data not available.

Synonyms

SynonymFull CitationBasionymType
Medicago alba Medicago alba (Medikus) Krause, in Sturm, Deutschl. Fl., ed. 2. 9: 128. 1901.Melilotus albus Medikus 1787. 
Melilotus albus var. annuus Melilotus albus Medikus, var. annuus Coe, J. Amer. Soc. Agron. 9: 380. 1918.  
Melilotus leucanthus Melilotus leucanthus W. D. J. Koch ex de Candolle, in de Candolle & Lamarck, Fl. Franc. 4(2)("5"): 564. 1805.  
Melilotus melanospermus Melilotus melanospermus Besser ex Seringe, in de Candolle, Prodr. 2: 186. 1825.  
Melilotus rugulosus Melilotus rugulosus Willdenow, Enum. Pl. 789. 1809.  
Melilotus vulgaris Melilotus vulgaris (Hayne) Willdenow, Enum. Pl. 790. 1809.Trifolium vulgare Hayne 1808. 
Sertula alba Sertula alba (Medikus) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 1: 205. 1891.Melilotus albus Medikus 1787. 
Trifolium album Trifolium album (Medikus) Loiseleur-Deslongchamps, Fl. Gall. 479. 1807, non Crantz 1769, nec Lamarck 1779.Melilotus albus Medikus 1787. 
Trifolium vulgare Trifolium vulgare Hayne, Neues J. Bot. 2: 336. 1808 ("1807").Trifolium vulgare Hayne 1808. 

Specimens and Distribution

This species has been reported in the following counties by the herbaria listed. An overview of the individual specimens are provided in the table that follows. Click on the accession number to view details; click on column headers to sort; choose a county or herbaria to filter the specimen data.

Counties included on distribution map: Autauga, Baldwin, Blount, Calhoun, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Cullman, Dallas, Etowah, Greene, Hale, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Pickens, Randolph, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Winston

Counties represented by specimen data listed below:

Herbaria represented by specimen data listed below: ALNHS, JSU, SAMF, TROY, UNA, USAM, UWAL

Range of years during which specimens were collected: 1951 - 1988

Barcode / Accession No.
County
Coll. Date
Collector &
Collection No.
Herbarium &
Herbarium Name Used
Image
UNA00008891 Autauga 14 Jun 1982 Gunn, Scott C.
688		 UNA
Melilotus albus Desr.
UWAL0044497 Baldwin 24 Feb 2000 Larsen, Harry S.
258		 UWAL
Melilotus albus Medik.
SAMF0001774 Blount 01 Jun 1956 Avery, J.C.
s.n.		 SAMF
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
UNA00054622 Blount 16 Jun 1998 Keener, Brian R.
1020		 UNA
Melilotus albus Medik.
JSU135649 Calhoun 21 Jun 1969 Landers, Kenneth E.
s.n.		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
JSU135651 Cleburne 25 May 1994 Hruska, Susan E.
200		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
JSU135650 Cleburne 30 Jun 1994 Hruska, Susan E.
275		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
JSU135652 Coffee 15 Apr 1967 Prater, Pat
s.n.		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
JSU135653 Colbert 16 Jul 1965 Landers, Kenneth E.
s.n.		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
JSU135654 Cullman 20 Jun 1975 Whetstone, R. David
4839		 JSU
Melilotus alba Desrousseaux
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