Fabaceae
Melilotus

Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.

First published in Fl. Franç. 2: 594 (1779)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Europe to W. Himalaya and Arabian Peninsula. It is an annual or perennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Leguminosae, J. B. Gillett, R. M. Polhill & B. Verdcourt. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1971

Diagnostic
Greatly resembles M. alba Desr. except for the yellow corolla and the strong rugose transverse veins of the pod.
Figures
Fig. 145/10.
Habitat
Weed near buildings; 2000 m.
Distribution
K4 Europe, central Asia to W. Chinaintroduced in other temperate regions
[FTEA]

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds Protein Content

34.90% Entire seed/nut. Moisture content not stated (Jones & Earle, 1966)

[SID]

International Legume Database and Information Service

Conservation
Not Threatened
Ecology
Africa: Afromontane (upland) anthropic landscapes
Morphology General Habit
Annual/Perennial, Not climbing, Herb
Vernacular
Akta Sotvappling, Barkun Lekavy, Burkun Piskovyi, Burkun Zhovtyi, Common Yellow Melilot, Derman Kheshenbul, Donnik Lekarstvennyi, Donnik Peschanyi, Donnik Zheltyi, Dorugi, Dziedniecibas Amolins, Echter Honigklee, Echter Steinklee, Emteekh Donnik, Erba Vet
[ILDIS]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Uses

Use
Domestic, Food and Drink, Forage, Medicine, Miscellaneous, Weed
[ILDIS]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora of Tropical East Africa

    • Flora of Tropical East Africa
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • International Legume Database and Information Service

    • International Legume Database and Information Service (ILDIS) V10.39 Nov 2011
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Seed Information Database

    • Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. (2019) Seed Information Database (SID). Version 7.1. Available from: http://data.kew.org/sid/ (September 2019)
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • World Checklist of Vascular plants (WCVP)

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2024. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0