Melilotus officinalis Lam.
Yellow Sweet Clover

Scientific Description

Erect, herb. Stems flattened, not spiny, glabrous; pustules or glands absent. Leaves or phylloclades clearly present, compound, alternate, continuous with stem, 20-40 mm long, hairy, with simple hairs, flat with flat margins; margins dentate; tubercles absent, pinnately arranged, terminal leaflet present, stalked; pustules or glands absent. Stipules present and persistent to older leaves. Pedicel present, 1-2 mm long, glabrous. Bracteoles absent. Calyx 2-2.2 mm long, not accrescent, glabrous, ribless; pustules or glands absent. Corolla 5.5-6 mm long, uniformly coloured (?); claws present; standard 5-5.7 mm long, glabrous, not auriculate, wings 3-6 mm long, not auriculate, keel 4.5-6 mm long, not beaked, not auriculate, glabrous. Stamens ten, at two different levels (filaments alternately long and short); filaments united in an open sheath with one free stamen, 3-4.3 mm long. Ovary sessile or subsessile, glabrous; style 4-4.8 mm long, glabrous, not bearded, terete. Fruit indehiscent and splitting into sections (schizocarps), sessile or subsessile, not constricted between the seeds, round in cross-section, beaked. Occurs in the South-West Botanical Province, in the Mallee and Esperance IBRA regions.