Plant
White Sweetclover
Melilotus albusAlso known as Honey Clover, White Melilot, Bokhara Clover, Sweet Clover
White sweetclover thrives in disturbed soils where its deep taproot breaks up hardpan and enriches poor ground through nitrogen-fixing root bacteria. Dense summer racemes of small white flowers emit a rich, vanilla-like scent that attracts honey bees, native pollinators, and butterflies in huge numbers. While widely planted for honey production and soil reclamation, it rapidly colonizes prairies and abandoned ground to outcompete native grassland plants.
FloweringNitrogen FixerAromatic
—observations
—countries
—peak records
Not EvaluatedConservation statusIUCN Red List categoriesLCNTVUENCREWEXNot Evaluated — not placed on the risk ladderRed List categories, explained →
Diet & preyAutotrophic (photosynthetic)
Predators
- White-tailed Deer
- Grasshoppers
- Cattle
ThreatsHerbicidal spraying, mowing, and prescribed burning
HabitatsRoadsides, fallow fields, disturbed grasslands, and open prairies
Life span1–2 years (annual or biennial)
Classification
- OrderFabales
- FamilyFabaceae
- GenusMelilotus
- SpeciesMelilotus albus
Range data is not available yet.
Interaction riskHigh
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
- Why interaction risk is high
- Can form toxic anticoagulants if moldy; toxic to dogs, cats, and livestock when decaying.
- Why it is dangerous
- Contains coumarin compounds that common molds convert into dicoumarol, a powerful blood thinner causing hemorrhages in animals.
- How to recognize a risky encounter
- Look for erect branching stems topped with slender spires of tiny white pea-like blossoms.
- What to do
- Never feed damp, moldy, or poorly dried hay to pets or livestock, and discard spoiled clippings.
Responsible observation
- Scent Recognition: Gently crush a leaf or flower cluster to detect the sweet, herbal coumarin fragrance.
- Pollinator Watching: Scan flowering spires on calm, sunny mornings to spot diverse wild bees and skippers.
Pollinator Andreas Trepte / CC BY-SA 2.5 · cc-by-sa
Close Relative Ivar Leidus / CC BY-SA 4.0 · cc-by-sa
Same Family (c) Andreas Stiller, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Andreas Stiller · cc-by
Same Family "Red Clover" by randihausken is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/. · cc-by-sa
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