Melilotus officinalis, known as sweet yellow clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot, is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa, and Australia.
Where can we found sweet clover?
Commonly found on roadsides, abandoned fields, railroad ballasts, pastures, and any unflooded, open natural community such as a prairie. These two sweet clovers grow in a variety of conditions, including hot and cold climates, and direct sunlight to partial shade.
Is there another name for sweet clover?
Melilotus, known as melilot, sweet clover, and kumoniga (from the Cumans), is a genus in the family Fabaceae (the same family that also includes the Trifolium clovers). Members are known as common grassland plants and as weeds of cultivated ground.
How did sweet clover reach the place?
In the US, the species is considered most common in the upper Midwest and Great Plains regions, including Kentucky, Nebraska, Tennessee and Wisconsin. White sweetclover was brought to North America as early as 1664 as a forage crop. Since then, it has spread from cultivation and thrives in waste places and roadsides.
What is sweet clover used for?
Sweet clover is used to increase the loss of water from the body through the urine (as a diuretic). It is also used for varicose veins and to relieve symptoms of poor blood circulation (chronic venous insufficiency) including leg pain and heaviness, night cramps, itchiness, and fluid retention (edema).
How does sweet clover spread?
Yellow Sweet Clover spreads by reseeding itself, and it often forms colonies at favorable sites. The sweet hay-like aroma of the foliage is caused by coumarin. Cultivation: The preference is full or partial sun, moist to slightly dry conditions, and a somewhat heavy clay-loam soil.
Does sweet clover come back every year?
Sweet clover can be an annual or a biennial depending on where it is planted as well as the cultivar used. Sweet clovers are an excellent soil-builder because they have a deep taproot that extends through the soil profile which takes up nutrients and minerals that can be used by crops.
Can you eat sweet clover?
The flowers, raw or cooked, are edible. The whole plant thoroughly dried can be used to make a tea with a hint of vanilla. The seeds can be used as a spice. Consuming this plant occassionally or used as a spice is highly recommended.
Is clover good for your liver?
Health care practitioners believe that red clover “purified” the blood by acting as a diuretic (helping the body get rid of excess fluid) and expectorant (helping clear lungs of mucous), improving circulation, and helping cleanse the liver.
Is sweet clover a grass?
Sweet clover is a legume that can provide more nitrogen to adjacent grasses than most other legumes. Following a heavy sweet clover year, the next year’s grasses may get a production boost. Sweet clover also provides good quality grazing similar to alfalfa before plants bloom heavily.
What kills sweet clover?
2,4-D works well on white sweetclover controlling most of the treated population. 2,4-D is an active ingredient often found in products used on lawns, and is incorporated in many products that are available for use on almost any site. 2,4-D is a selective herbicide that is only active on broadleaf plants.
How do you harvest sweet clover?
For best results ahead of a summer crop or fallow, kill sweetclover in the second year after seeding when stalks are 6 to 10 inches tall (183, 361). It can be killed by mowing, cultivating or disking once it reaches late bloom stage (32).
Is sweet clover good for deer?
Those insects will in turn attract many different species of gamebirds. Pheasants, Quail, Turkey will all flock to the easy food source. Deer will also browse the ample forage produced by Yellow Blossom Sweet Clover.
What does sweet clover smell like?
White sweet clover flowers are very fragrant, with a vanilla-like scent.
Can cows eat sweet clover?
Sweet clover contains a high level of a chemical that can be converted to an anticoagulant. Improperly curing hay made from certain sweet clover varieties such as white and yellow sweet clover can cause severe and often fatal hemorrhages in livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats.
Is sweet clover the same as red clover?
Sweet clover is not as consistent as red clover in producing high quality forage over the summer period. Sweet clover is very tolerant of dry conditions, heat and grasshoppers. Sweet clover is a true biennial and will survive only one winter. Sweet clover is susceptible to attack by the sweet clover weevil.
Why is sweet clover invasive?
Quick facts. White and yellow sweetclovers are invasive species. Yellow and white sweetclover grow abundantly on disturbed lands, roadsides and abandoned fields. The plants degrade native grasslands by shading out sun-loving plants, reducing diversity.
Is sweet clover the same as white clover?
Yellow Sweet Clover starts blooming a couple weeks earlier than White and is a slightly smaller plant, but except for the flower color and some other more subtle differences is otherwise nearly identical.
How much nitrogen does sweet clover fix?
50 to 100 pounds per acre
The amount of nitrogen contributed by red clover can range from 30 to 50 pounds per acre and for sweet clover from 50 to 100 pounds per acre by full bloom, depending on the density of the stand, moisture availability, soil type and the length of the growing season.
Is sweet clover good for the soil?
Sweet clover is renown for improving marginal soil by increasing the organic matter quickly. Plants are tolerant of heat and shading. Tap root is fairly aggressive and is able to loosen hard soils.
Which type of clover is best for bees?
White clover and crimson clover, with their relatively short florets are readily worked by honeybees with nectar being relatively easy to attain. Red clover has a longer floral tube, so nectar is not as accessible to honeybees.