LEGUMINOSAE PULSE FAMIL’ 
YELLOW SWEET CLOVER 
Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. 
The Yellow Sweet Clover and its close relative White Swee 
Clover, Melilotus alba Desr., are very similar except in size anc 
the color of their flowers. Both are naturalized from Europ 
and are common mostly 
throughout the United States. 
In many places they are ex- 
tensively grown as forage crops 
and honey plants. They pro- 
duce nectar most abundantly 
in a rather dry climate, such 
as that west of the Mississippi 
river. 
The white species grows 
up to 10 feet and the yellow 
not much more than 3. 
Branchlets and leaves are 
covered with short fine hairs. . 
The foliage has a delightful 
fragrance, especially as it 
dries, and because of it the 
branches are often gathered 
and hung in rooms and closets. 
They are likewise hung at the 
doorways of country homes to 
keep away flies, which dislike 
the odor. 
The White Sweet Clover 
usually begins blooming in 
June about 2 weeks before the Yellow and both continue t 
produce their butterfly-shaped flowers through the summer 
In the flowers of the yellow species all the petals are about thi 
same length but in the white species the standard 1s longer 
The pods contain I or 2 seeds. 
Another very common Yellow Clover, also from Europe, is thi 
Black Medick or Nonesuch, Medicago lupulina L. This is a loy 
creeping annual with wedge-shaped or nearly round leaflets 
toothed near the tip. The yellow flowers are nearly like those o 
Sweet Clover but are in short spikes. The pods are kidney forn 
and 1-seeded. 
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