WHITE SWEETCLOVER 



Melilo'tus al'ba 



W123 

 (2 leaves) 



Flowers small (about % in. long), 

 yellow, pea-like, numerous, minutely 

 bracted, short-stalked, borne in stalked, 

 lax, axillary clusters (racemes) 



Petals 5, dissimilar; upper petal (ban- 

 ner) about equalling the 2 side petals 

 (wings); lower 2 united petals (keel) 

 short, blunt-tipped 



Outer united flower parts (calyx) 

 short, persistent, 5-tootbed; teeth nar- 

 row, about %t in. long 



Stamens 10;-upper stamen free; lower 

 9 stamens united by their stalks 

 (filaments). 



Podssmall, somewhat egg-shaped, 

 net-veined or wrinkly, hairy, usually 

 1-seeded 



Stems iip to about 10 ft. high, some- 

 what spreading at base, much-branched, 

 leafy, often hollow 



Leaves alternate, stalked, with 3 leaf- 

 lets; bracts (stipules) at base of stalk, 

 somewhat bristle-like 



Leaflets stalked, oblong to reverse- 

 lance-shaped, blunt or rounded at tip, 

 finely toothed on margins 



Taproot semiwoody, biennial, deep, 

 with numerous, extensive lateral roots; 

 bacterial nodules present 



