Melilotus alba Medikus   Fabaceae (Pea Family)   Eurasia   White Sweet-Clover

                                        January Photo

Plant Characteristics: Annual or biennial herb, erect, 1-2 m. tall; petioles mostly 5-15 mm. long; stipules subulate 5-7 mm. long; lfts. mostly lanceolate to oblanceolate, truncate, 1-2 mm. long, serrate; peduncles commonly 3-5 cm. long; racemes 5-10 cm. long; pedicels 1-2 mm. long; fls. 4-6 mm. long, white; pods ovoid, glabrous, ca. 3 mm. long.

Habitat:  Abundantly natur. in waste places, especially in damp places; to B.C. and Atlantic Coast.  Below 1500 m. May-Sept.

Name:  Greek, meli, honey, and lotos, some leguminous plant. Munz, Flora So. Calif. 464).  Albus means white. (Dale 115).

General: Common in the study area.  Photographed on the North Star Flats and  along Back Bay Dr.  (my comments).       Mild expectorant and diuretic.  Also used to soothe the skin.  Will keep moths out of clothing. (ref. not recorded).      Cultivated somewhat for forage but it has a slightly bitter taste which cattle must become accustomed to before they will eat it readily.  American beekeepers have long recognized the importance of sweet-clover as a honey plant.  (Robbins et al. 263).     Apples, clover and mint are good for thickening other foods.  Clover can be eaten raw or made into tea.  (lecture by Charlotte Clarke, author of Useful and Edible Plants of California, April 1987.      In Europe the blossoms are packed among furs to give them a pleasant odor and keep moths away.  This plant is a highly valued remedy in the pharmacopea.  For various ailments, and its sweet-scented flowers have been used for flavoring many products, such as Gruyere cheese, snuff and tobacco.  (Parsons 165).      Sweet Clover is a traditional external poultice for sore breasts and mild mastitis, as well as any other soft tissue inflammation.  The tea has been used in many countries as a stomach soother and for chronic flatulence, particularly following intestinal infections.  The teas has a pleasant vanilla flavor and can be drunk simply for its taste.  Many a sodbuster in the last century warded off the dirt and mold smell of early spring in a dirt cabin with bundles of Sweet Clover picked the previous summer.  (Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West 152).      About 20 species of Eurasia and Africa.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 464).       Indistinguishable from M. officinalis prior to flowering.  (Hickman, Ed. 638).

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. II 521; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 464; Roberts 24.

Photo Ref:  Jan 1 84 # 3; July 1 83 # 14; May 2 87 # 13A.

Identity: by R. De Ruff.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 81.

No plant specimen.

Last edit 1/19/03.

                                              May Photo