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White Melilot

White Melilot

Trigonella alba

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How common: Common

Alien species

White Melilot is a tall, sweet‑scented biennial with many small white flowers in long, slender clusters. It often grows on dry, disturbed ground such as railways, roadsides and waste places. Not suitable as animal fodder because of coumarin; spoiled plants have caused bleeding in livestock.

Did you know?

  • Often sown to improve soil and to feed pollinators; bees flock to its nectar‑rich flowers.
  • Study of spoiled White Melilot led to the discovery of the blood‑thinner warfarin.

About the species

Identification

Usually biennial. In its second year it forms upright stems 1–2 m tall, almost hairless. Leaves are in threes; each leaflet is finely toothed, and the middle one sits on a slightly longer little stalk than the two side ones (a quick way to tell it from clovers). Many small white, sweet‑smelling flowers hang in long, loose clusters along the upper stems. Later, tiny narrow pods form, each with one seed and they do not split open. Can be confused with Yellow Sweet Clover (yellow flowers) and with lupins, which have much larger, denser flower heads. Flowers in Finland from July to September.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

meadow, yards and roadsides

Flowering

Jul–Sep

About the habitat

Dry, sunny, open places on poor or disturbed soils: railways, harbours, loading areas, roadsides, fields, embankments and waste ground; also sown for green manure and bee forage. Mainly in southern and central Finland; scarce further north.

Sources

Photo: AnRo0002, CC0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20130628Melilotus albus1.jpg

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki leviäimet, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39017

Text: Pinkka: Verso- ja leviäintunnistus - Kaikki versot, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39017

Text: Pinkka: Leg4Life-pinkka - Nurmipalkokasvit, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39017

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkomesikk%C3%A4

See also