GRIP

GRIP



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:
0 (0  active, 0  available) in National Plant Germplasm System. 
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)
  1. Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  2. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource) www.skud.info
  3. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
  4. Bosser, J. M. et al., eds. 1976-. Flores des Mascareignes.
  5. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning Note: poisonous
  6. Cronquist, A. et al. 1972-. Intermountain flora.
  7. Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 145.
  8. Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
  9. Demilly, D. et al. 2001. Liste alphabétique des principales espèces de plantes cultivées et de mauvaises herbes. Noms latins et noms français, ed. 7 Note: GEVES-SNES, Beaucouzé, France
  10. Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance Note: = Melilotus indica
  11. Eriksson, O. et al. 1979. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2.
  12. Everest, S. L. 1981. Poisonous plants of Australia. Note: poisonous
  13. Germishuizen, G. & N. L. Meyer, eds. 2003. Plants of southern Africa: an annotated checklist. Strelitzia 14
  14. Graham, E. H. 1941. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412.
  15. Hacker, J. B. 1990. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Australia.
  16. Hansen, A. & P. Sunding. 1993. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 4. Sommerfeltia vol. 17.
  17. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.
  18. Hnatiuk, R. J. 1990. Census of Australian vascular plants. Australian Flora and Fauna Series No. 11.
  19. Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
  20. Inst. Bot. V. L. Komarova, Acad. Sci. URSS. 1963-. Plantae asiae centralis.
  21. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  22. International Seed Testing Association. 1982. A Multilingual Glossary of Common Plant-Names 1. Field crops, grasses and vegetables, ed. 2.
  23. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. 2004. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres
  24. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. 1931-1941. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc.
  25. Kartesz, J. T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland.
  26. Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa Note: poisonous
  27. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  28. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
  29. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
  30. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  31. Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
  32. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  33. Norton, J. et al. 2009. Illustrated checklist of the flora of Qatar.
  34. Ohwi, J. 1965. Flora of Japan (Engl. ed.).
  35. Pammel, L. H. 1911. Manual of poisonous plants. Note: poisonous
  36. Pignatti, S. 1982. Flora d'Italia.
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  38. Pottier-Alapetite, G. 1979-1981. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones.
  39. Press, J. R. & M. J. Short, eds. 1994. Flora of Madeira.
  40. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. 1962-1963. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie.
  41. Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
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  43. Silva, L. et al. 2005. Listagem da fauna e flora terrestres dos Açores. Lista des plantas vasculares (Pteridophyta e Spermatophyta).
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  46. Stace, C. 1995. New flora of the British Isles.
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  53. Voronchikhin, V. V. & N. A. Basilevskaya. 1974. Opredelenie sornykh vidov roda Melilotus Adans. po plodam i semenam. (Identification of weed plants from the genus Melilotus Adans. with the help of their pods and seeds). Vestn. Moskovsk. Univ., Ser. 6, Biol. 29:37.
  54. Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
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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 –
English (Canada)
annual yellow sweet-clover –
French
mélilot de l' Inde –
mélilot des Indes –
French (Canada)
mélilot d’Inde –
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 Zizhiqu 
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 incl. Crete
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly incl. Sardinia, Sicily
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance incl. Corsica
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain incl. Baleares
2Cultivated    also cult.
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalAzores 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaPortugalMadeira Islands 
4NaturalizedAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanarias 
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 s.
4NaturalizedSouthern AmericaCaribbeanWest Indies  
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: Bahrain, Kuwait
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
  • CAUCASUS: Azerbaijan, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • CHINA: China [Xizang Zizhiqu]
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Nepal, Pakistan
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece (incl. Crete), Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily)
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain (incl. Baleares), France (incl. Corsica), Portugal
Cultivated (also cult.)
Naturalized
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canarias], 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
  • CARIBBEAN: West Indies
  • REGION: South America (s.)
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforage Duke, J. A. 1981. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance Note: = Melilotus indica
Animal foodforage Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
Bee plantshoney production Hacker, J. B. 1990. A guide to herbaceous and shrub legumes of Queensland University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Australia.
Environmentalerosion control Graham, E. H. 1941. Legumes for erosion control and wildlife. USDA Misc. Publ. 412.
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. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Pammel, L. H. 1911. Manual of poisonous plants. Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Kellerman, T. S. et al. 1988. Plant poisonings and mycotoxicoses of livestock in Southern Africa Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning Note: poisonous
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Everest, S. L. 1981. Poisonous plants of Australia. Note: poisonous
Weedpotential seed contaminant Holm, L. et al. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds
Weedpotential seed contaminant Weber, E. 2003. Invasive plant species of the world: a reference guide to environmental weeds
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://grip.mawarid.gov.om/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=24000. Accessed 29 May 2025.