Melilotus albus Medik.
white sweet-clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
white sweet-clover
Fabaceae (Pea family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Annual or biennial herb from a taproot, sweet-scented in drying; stems erect, 0.5-2 m tall, freely branched, fine short-hairy to glabrous.
Leaves:
Alternate, pinnately compound; leaflets 3, oblong-elliptic to egg-shaped, 1-4 cm long, short-hairy to glabrous, the margins fine-toothed to the base; stipules entire or lobed, 5-10 mm long, joined at the base to the leaf stalk.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a slender, spike-like, axillary raceme of 20 to 50 or more pea-like flowers, the racemes 5-20 cm long on stalks from shorter to longer than the leaves; corollas white, 4-5 mm long, the banner longer than the wings; calyces bell-shaped, 2-3.5 mm long, the narrowly lanceolate teeth nearly equal to the tube.
Fruits:
Pods, egg-shaped, somewhat flattened but still plump, nodding, 3-6 mm long, somewhat leathery, glabrous, net-veined, 1-chambered; seeds 1 or 2.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Melilotus albus
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
749 | 320 | 1449 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
23 | 0 | 110 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
210 | 35 | 338 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
100 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BG | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(39), BWBS(3), ICH(9), IDF(34), MS(3), PP(9), SBPS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Mesic to dry fields, roadsides and waste places; common in S half of BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare to the W and N; introduced from Eurasia.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Melilotus alba