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Taxon:  Melilotus albus Medik.



Summary
Genus:
Melilotus
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23989
Place of publication:
Vorles. Churpfälz. Phys.-Öcon. Ges. 2:382. 1787 "alba"
Comment:
most references list Desr. in Lam. (not Medikus) as author
Verified:
08/25/1989 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
198 (194  active, 92  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Homotypic Synonym(s)
Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. subsp. albus (Medik.) H. Ohashi & Tateishi

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Melilotus albus Medik. var. annuus H. S. Coe
Melilotus leucanthus W. D. J. Koch ex DC.
No images


Reference(s)
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  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. Flora of Libya. 1976-
  4. Campbell, F. T., ed. Report of National Coalition of Exotic Plant Pest Councils. 1995 (unpublished draft)
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  7. Cronquist, A. et al. Intermountain flora. 1972-
  8. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  9. Encke, F. et al. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage. 1984
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  12. Foster, S. & J. A. Duke. A field guide to medicinal plants: Eastern/Central North America, 2nd ed. 2000
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  14. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14. 2003
  15. Ghazanfar, S. A. An annotated catalogue of the vascular plants of Oman. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2. 1992
  16. Graham, E. H. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412. 1941
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  18. Hacker, J. B. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland. 1990
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  21. Holm, L. et al. A geographical atlas of world weeds. 1979
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  30. Lock, J. M. Legumes of Africa: a checklist. 1989
  31. Lum, M. R. et al. 2002. Investigation of four classes of non-nodulating white sweetclover (Melilotus alba annua Desr.) mutants and their responses to arbuscular-mycorrhizal fungi. Integr. Comp. Biol. 42(2):295-303.
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Common names
English
Bokhara-clover –
honey-clover –
white melilot –
white sweet-clover –
Arabic
handaquq –
nafal –
French
mélilot blanc –
German
Bokharaklee –
weißer Steinklee –
Italian
meliloto bianco –
Japanese Rōmaji
shirobana-shinagawa-hagi –
Portuguese
meliloto-branco –
Spanish
meliloto blanco –
Swedish
vit sötväppling –
Transcribed Chinese
bai hua cao mu xi –
Transcribed Korean
huinjeondongssari –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaOman  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationDagestan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChina  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaUzbekistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateSiberiaRussian Federation-Western SiberiaWestern Siberia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaJordan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentBhutan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndo-ChinaMyanmar  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeBelarus  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeEstonia  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLatvia  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeLithuania  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeMoldova  
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeRussian Federation-European partEuropean part 
1NativeEuropeEast EuropeUkraine  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeCzechoslovakia  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeGermany  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropePoland  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeBulgaria  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalAzores 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalMadeira Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaSouthern AfricaSouth Africa  
4NaturalizedAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaQatar  
4NaturalizedAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaUnited Arab Emirates  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaAustraliaAustralia  
4NaturalizedAustralasiaNew ZealandNew Zealand  
4NaturalizedEuropeNorthern EuropeUnited Kingdom  
4NaturalizedNorthern America Canada  
4NaturalizedNorthern America United States  
4NaturalizedPacificNorth-Central PacificUnited StatesHawaii 
4NaturalizedSouthern America South America  
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaMesoamericaCentral America  
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Egypt, Libya
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
  • CHINA: China
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • SIBERIA: Russian Federation-Western Siberia [Western Siberia]
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bhutan, India, Pakistan
  • INDO-CHINA: Myanmar
Europe
  • EAST EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part], Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova, Ukraine
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France
Cultivated ()
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands], Portugal [Azores, Madeira Islands]
  • SOUTHERN AFRICA: South Africa
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: United Arab Emirates, Qatar
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia
  • NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand
Europe
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: United Kingdom
Northern America
  • REGION: Canada, United States
Pacific
  • NORTH-CENTRAL PACIFIC: United States [Hawaii]
Southern America
  • REGION: South America
  • MESOAMERICA: Central America
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Magness, J. R. et al. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1. 1971
Bee plantshoney production Hacker, J. B. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland. 1990
Environmentalsoil improver Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
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 Weber, E. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds. 2003
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=23989. Accessed 20 July 2025.


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