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Taxon:  Melilotus indicus (L.) All.



Summary
Genus:
Melilotus
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
24000
Place of publication:
Fl. pedem. 1:308. 1785 "indica"
Verified:
08/25/1989 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
82 (75  active, 63  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Melilotus indicus (L.) All. var. indicus (0 active accession[s])
Melilotus indicus (L.) All. var. tommasinii (Jord.) O. E. Schulz (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
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  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
  4. Allen, O. N. & E. K. Allen. The Leguminosae. A source book of characteristics, uses, and nodulation. 1981
  5. Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. Flores des Mascareignes. 1976-
  6. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning. 1998
  7. Cronquist, A. et al. Intermountain flora. 1972-
  8. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  9. Demilly, D. et al. Liste alphabétique des principales espèces de plantes cultivées et de mauvaises herbes. Noms latins et noms français, ed. 7. 2001
  10. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  11. Eriksson, O. et al. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2. 1979
  12. Everest, S. L. Poisonous plants of Australia. 1981
  13. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14. 2003
  14. Graham, E. H. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412. 1941
  15. Hacker, J. B. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland. 1990
  16. Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17. 1993
  17. Hara, H. et al. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. 1978-1982
  18. Hnatiuk, R. J. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11. 1990
  19. Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
  20. Inst. Bot. V. L. Komarova, Acad. Sci. URSS. Plantae asiae centralis. 1963-
  21. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  22. International Seed Testing Association. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2. 1982
  23. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  24. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  25. Kartesz, J. T. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1994
  26. Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
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  28. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Hortus third. 1976
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  30. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  31. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
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  39. Pottier-Alapetite, G. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones. 1979-1981
  40. Press, J. R. & M. J. Short, eds. Flora of Madeira. 1994
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  43. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
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  45. Small, E. et al. 1981. The taxonomic value of floral characters in tribe Trigonelleae (Leguminosae), with special reference to Medicago. Canad. J. Bot. 59:1581.
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Common names
English
California lucerne –
Hexham-scent –
Hexham-scent melilot –
Indian sweet-clover –
King Island melilot –
King Island-clover –
small melilot –
sour-clover –
Arabic
handaquq –
nafal –
French
mélilot de l' Inde –
mélilot des Indes –
German
kleinblütiger Steinklee –
India
senji –
Italian
meliloto a fioro piccolo –
Japanese Rōmaji
ko-shinagawa-hagi –
Portuguese
trevo-de-cheiro –
Swedish
dvärgsötväppling –
Transcribed Chinese
yin du cao mu xi –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaBahrain  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaKuwait  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationDagestan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaXizang 
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaUzbekistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaEgyptSinai 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalAzores 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalMadeira Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa  
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanMauritius  
4NaturalizedAfricaWestern Indian OceanReunion  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaNew ZealandNew Zealand  
4NaturalizedEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
4NaturalizedNorthern America Mexico  
4NaturalizedNorthern America United States  
4NaturalizedPacificNorth-Central PacificUnited StatesHawaii 
4NaturalizedSouthern America South America  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaCaribbeanWest Indies  
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Bahrain, Kuwait
  • CAUCASUS: Azerbaijan, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
  • CHINA: China [Xizang]
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Nepal, Pakistan
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Italy
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France, Portugal
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Azores, Madeira Islands]
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa
  • WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN: Mauritius, Reunion
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
  • NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand
Europe
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom
Northern America
  • REGION: Mexico, United States
Pacific
  • NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
Southern America
  • REGION: South America
  • CARIBBEAN: West Indies
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
Bee plantshoney production Hacker, J. B. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland. 1990
Environmentalerosion control Graham, E. H. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412. 1941
Environmentalsoil improver University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. UC SAREP on-line cover crop database (on-line resource).
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa. 1988
Weedpotential seed contaminant Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=24000. Accessed 18 July 2025.


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