Sweet clover
| Sweet clover | ||||||||||||
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White sweet clover ( Melilotus albus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Melilotus | ||||||||||||
| Mill. |
Sweet clover ( Melilotus , too) sweet clover called, is a plant genus that to the subfamily of Pea (Faboideae) within the family of legumes belongs (Fabaceae). The 20 or so species are common in Eurasia .
Description and ecology
Sweet clover species are herbaceous plants that are annual to two years . The alternate and spirally arranged leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The leaf blade imparipinnate contains only three pinna leaflet . The edges of the leaflets are serrated. The stipules are fused with the petiole.
The flowers are in axillary, unbranched, racemose inflorescences together. There are only tiny bracts . The stalked, hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five sepals are fused bell-shaped. The more or less unequal calyx teeth are significantly shorter than the corolla tube. The five yellow or white petals stand together in the typical shape of the butterfly flower . The boat, which has grown together from two petals, is shorter than the two wings. Nine of the ten fertile stamens are mutually-tube grown together with like-faceted anthers . There is only one upper carpel with one to five ovules . The stylus is thin. The pollination is effected by Hymenoptera , mostly by bees ( Entomophilie ).
The small legume is about as long as the calyx and contains one to four seeds. The fruit or the seed serves as a diaspore (unit of distribution).
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Systematics
The genus Melilotus was established by Philip Miller in 1754 . The genus Melilotus belongs to the tribe Trifolieae in the subfamily of the butterflies (Faboideae) within the family of the legumes (Fabaceae).
Most of the species are found from the Mediterranean to Central Asia .
The genus includes about 20 (up to 25) species:
- White sweet clover ( Melilotus albus Medik. ): It is widespread in Eurasia and North Africa, almost worldwide a neophyte .
- Tall sweet clover ( Melilotus altissimus Thuill. ): It is common in Europe and in Asiatic Russia .
- Toothed sweet clover ( Melilotus dentatus (Waldst. & Kit.) Pers. ): It is common in Eurasia.
- Melilotus elegans salt m. ex Ser. : It occurs in southern Europe , in Western Asia from Israel to Turkey , North Africa to Ethiopia , in Yemen , Iran , Madeira and Cape Verde .
- Melilotus hirsutus Lipsky : It occurs in Georgia and in Asian Russia.
- Small-flowered sweet clover ( Melilotus indicus (L.) All. ): It is widespread in Eurasia and Africa and is a neophyte almost worldwide.
- Melilotus infestus cast. : It is common in Portugal , Italy , the Balearic Islands, Corsica , Sicily , Malta , Algeria , Tunisia and Morocco and is a neophyte in Australia.
- Melilotus italicus (L.) Lam. : It is common in southern Europe, Algeria, Libya , Morocco and from the Aegean and Israel to Syria and Turkey.
- Melilotus macrocarpus Coss. & Durieu : His home is Algeria and Tunisia.
- Melilotus messanensis (L.) All. (Syn .: Melilotus siculus (Turra) Vitman ex BDJacks. ): The home is southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East to Iran; she found a neophyte in Ethiopia, South Africa, Pakistan, Australia and South America.
- Melilotus neapolitanus Ten. (Syn .: Melilotus spicatus (Sm.) Breistr. ): It iswidespreadin southern and southeastern Europe , in the Middle East, in Asian Russia and in North Africa.
- Yellow sweet clover or real sweet clover called, ( Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam. ): It is widespread in Eurasia; it is a neophyte in Africa, North, Central and South America, and in Australia.
- Melilotus polonicus (L.) Desr. : It occurs in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Iran.
- Melilotus segetalis (bread.) Ser. : It is common in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
- Melilotus serratifolius Täckh. & Boulos : It only occurs in Egypt.
- Melilotus speciosus Durieu : The home is Spain, Algeria and Morocco.
- Melilotus suaveolens Ledeb. : It is common in Asia and is also found in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
- Furrowed sweet clover ( Melilotus sulcatus Desf. ): It is widespread in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East and is a neophyte in North America, Australia and Kenya.
- Melilotus tauricus (M.Bieb.) Ser. : It occurs in Turkey and Ukraine.
- Melilotus wolgicus Poir. : It is common in Northeastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia; it is a neophyte in France and Canada, for example.
The following are no longer included in this category:
- Melilotus creticus (L.) Desr. => Trigonella cretica (L.) Boiss.
- Melilotus graecus (Boiss. & Spruner) Lassen => Trigonella graeca (Boiss. & Spruner) Boiss.
use
Three species are of agricultural importance: white, yellow and Indian sweet clover. In the field, sweet clover is used as a pasture plant , especially as a bee pasture and for green manure . Hay or silage is made from cut sweet clover . The coumarin released during the drying of the plants gives the hay the typical hay smell, or it smells of woodruff. On the other hand, rotten hay and poorly preserved silage contain dicumarol , a breakdown product of coumarin ; Dicoumarol is toxic to livestock and causes external and internal bleeding.
The real or yellow sweet clover prefers stony locations. The aboveground plant parts of the sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis ), which are collected during the flowering period, are used medicinally , but also the herb of the sweet clover ( Melilotus altissima ), which can be found in rather humid places (meadows).
swell
- Leslie Watson, 2008: Melilotus in the Western Australian flora .
- Syed Irtifaq Ali: Papilionaceae. : Melilotus in the Flora of Pakistan .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Melilotus in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t data sheet at International Legume Database Information Service = ILDIS - LegumeWeb - World Database of Legumes , Version 10.38 from July 20, 2010.
- ^ AD Alstad, HH Casper, LJ Johnson: Vitamin K treatment of sweet clover poisoning in calves , J. of Am. Vet. Med. As. 1985 , 187 (7) , 729-731
