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Index / Search / Melilotus indicus

§1 Plant

Melilotus indicus (L.) All.

vernacular annual yellow sweetclover — species · Fabaceae

USDA
MEIN2
GBIF
2971016
Rank
species
annual yellow sweetclover (Melilotus indicus)
Platephotograph · Terry WoodwardCC BY source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb
Duration
Annual
Group
Dicot
Family
Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus
Melilotus
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Introduced
  • GL Greenland Introduced
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
  • PB Pacific Basin (except Hawaii) Introduced
§2b

County-level range

· 289 counties across 24 states/territories
Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 289 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Medium
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
20 °F minimum
Frost-free days
130 min.
Precipitation
16–55 in/yr
pH range
6.1–8.2
Root depth
14 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Crown
Growth rate
Rapid
Mature height
2.5 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
Medium
Toxicity
Moderate
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Early Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Spring
Seed ends
Spring
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
300,320
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
No Known Source
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 289 counties across 24 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 9 I ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 3 I ▾
California view state ↗ 42 I ▾
Florida view state ↗ 25 I ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 7 I ▾
Hawaii view state ↗ 4 I ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 3 I ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 60 I ▾
Maine view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 3 I ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 11 I ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 6 I ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 1 I ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 4 I ▾
New York view state ↗ 1 I ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 10 I ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 10 I ▾
Texas view state ↗ 74 I ▾
Utah view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Washington view state ↗ 5 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MEIN2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2971016 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z