This article is about the genus of grassland plants. For the moshav, see Mlilot

Mlilot

Mlilot is a religious moshav in southern Israel. Located near Netivot and covering 4,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sdot Negev Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 240....

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Melilotus, known as Melilot or Sweet-clover, is a genus in the family Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

. Members are known as common grassland plants and as weeds of cultivated ground. Originally from Europe and Asia, it is now found worldwide.

This legume is commonly named for its sweet smell, which is due to its high content of the perfume agent coumarin

Coumarin

Coumarin is a fragrant chemical compound in the benzopyrone chemical class, found in many plants, notably in high concentration in the tonka bean , vanilla grass , sweet woodruff , mullein , sweet grass , cassia cinnamon and sweet clover...

. This chemical is responsible for the sweet smell of hay and is bitter to the taste, probably produced by the plant to discourage ingestion by animals. Coumarin, in turn, is converted by fungi (including Penicillium, Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Mucor) into a poisonous anticoagulant, called dicoumarol, that may be found in moldly or spoiled sweet-clover. This compound was the historical cause of so-called sweet-clover disease, recognized in cattle since the 1920s.

Uses

Melilotus species are used as food plants by the larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including case-bearers of the genus Coleophora

Coleophora

Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions...

that including C. frischella and C. trifolii.

Melilotus is often used as a green manure

Green manure

In agriculture, a green manure is a type of cover crop grown primarily to add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. Typically, a green manure crop is grown for a specific period of time , and then plowed under and incorporated into the soil while green or shortly after flowering...

 and turned into the soil to increase its nitrogen and organic matter content. It is especially valuable in heavy soils because of its deep rooting. However, it may fail if the soil is too acidic. It should be turned into the soil when 8 to 10 inches tall. Unscarified

Scarification (botany)

Scarification in botany involves cutting the seed coat using abrasion, thermal stress, or chemicals to encourage germination.-In botany:Scarification is a natural process important for germination of many species' seeds. This process involves the breaching of the natural seed coating by mechanical,...

 seed is best sown in spring when the ground is not too dry; scarified seed is better sown in late fall or even in the snow, so it will germinate before competing weeds the following spring.

Others

Blue Melilot (Trigonella caerulea) is not a member of the genus, despite the name.

Species

The genus Melilotus currently has nineteen recognized species:

• Melilotus albus
  Melilotus albus
  Melilotus albus , is a legume sometimes grown for forage. White sweet clover is a major source of nectar for an apiary...
  
  Medik.
• Melilotus altissimus
  Melilotus altissimus
  Melilotus altissimus or Tall Melilot is a plant species of the genus Melilotus. This plant comes in many types of forms. They are found in Asia, Europe, Egypt, and now they are found worldwide. They are a long stalk like plant with green leaves and stems that shoot out of the ground....
  
  Thuill.
• Melilotus dentatus (Waldst. & Kit.) Pers.
• Melilotus elegans Salzm. ex Ser.
• Melilotus hirsutus Lipsky
• Melilotus indicus
  Melilotus indicus
  Melilotus indicus, sometimes incorrectly written Melilotus indica, is a yellow-flowered herb native to northern Africa, Europe and Asia, but naturalized throughout the rest of the world....
  
  (L.) All.
• Melilotus infestus Guss.
• Melilotus italicus (L.) Lam.
• Melilotus macrocarpus Coss. & Durieu
• Melilotus officinalis
  Melilotus officinalis
  Melilotus officinalis, known as the yellow sweet clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot or common melilot is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa and Australia.-Description:...
  
  (L.) Lam.
• Melilotus polonicus (L.) Desr.
• Melilotus segetalis (Brot.) Ser.
• Melilotus siculus (Turra) B. D. Jacks.
• Melilotus speciosus Durieu
• Melilotus spicatus (Sm.) Breistr.
• Melilotus suaveolens Ledeb.
• Melilotus sulcatus Desf.
• Melilotus tauricus (M. Bieb.) Ser.
• Melilotus wolgicus Poir.