Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Section: Common Name: Scientific Name: Family:
Account for Indian Sweetclover - Melilotus indicus   (L.) Allioni
Members of Fabaceae:
Members of Melilotus with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 6 » Order Fabales » Family Fabaceae
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Author(L.) Allioni
DistributionFound only in one location: Robeson County, along railroad in Lumberton, 23 May 1965, R.F. Britt 3105 (various herbaria) and 2 June 1965, Britt 2057 (NCU). Another specimen was collected in Edgecombe County, but there is no image nor label data (herbarium BOON), so the website editors will wait for ID confirmation. A third collection is from Cumberland County, probably at the CERL herbarium on Ft. Bragg; we withhold mapping until the specimen can be verified.

Native of Mediterranean Europe; in N.A. mostly Pacific and Gulf states, scattered north to New England.
AbundanceVery rare.
HabitatAlong a railroad.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting May-June (at least).
IdentificationIndian Sweetclover is closely similar to Yellow Sweetclover (M. officinalis), except it grows less than 2 feet tall (vs. 2-6 feet tall in that species) and the flowers are much smaller.
Taxonomic CommentsSometimes spelled "indica".

Other Common Name(s)
State RankSE
Global RankGNR
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B.A. SorrieRoadside and field, Troy, NY, August 2014. Photo_non_NCPhoto_non_NC
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