Yellow Sweet Clover - Melilotus officinalis
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover near shore of Lake Wingra in Wingra Park in Madison, Wisconsin on June 17, 2022.
Yellow Sweet Clover - Melilotus officinalis (Introduced - naturalized; ecologically invasive)
The Yellow Sweet Clover has 5-parted yellow flowers (in the shape of members of the pea family) that are clustered in spike-like racemes up to 6 inches long.
Yellow Sweet Clover was brought to North America as a forage crop. It escaped cultivation and invades dry, disturbed sites such as roadsides and fields.
Other names: Yellow melilot, Common melilot
Bloom: May - September.
White Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba) once had the same classification as Yellow Sweet Clover but is now considered a separate species. Yellow Sweet Cover (Melilotus officinalis) starts blooming a few weeks earlier than White Sweet Cover (Melilotus alba).
For more information on Yellow Sweet Clover visit Wikipedia.
Or, for information on Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis) visit the: Wisconsin State Herbarium.
Yellow Sweet Clover
Melilotus officinalis
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover near shore of Lake Wingra in Wingra Park in Madison, Wisconsin (6/17/22).
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover by Duck Pond (7/11/19).
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover near Marion Dunn Pond (6/9/20).
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover by Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (6/12/22).
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover by Duck Pond in Madison, Wisconsin (6/30/19).
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover specimen collected on an island in the Mississippi River in Vernon County Wisconsin on July 2, 1975.
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover botanical illustration circa 1885.
Above: USDA Yellow Sweet Clover botanical illustration circa 1913.
Above: Yellow Sweet Clover (Melilotus officinalis) line drawing from USDA NRCS, Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species., USDA NRCS National Wetland Team..
