Small Melilot (Melilotus indicus)

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Melilotus indicus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Melilotus
Species:
M. indicus
Binomial name
Melilotus indicus
Varieties

M. indicus var. indicus
M. indicus var. tommasinii

Synonyms

Melilotus parviflorus Desf.
Melilotus tommasinii Jord.
Trifolium indicum L.

Melilotus indicus - MHNT

Melilotus indicus, sometimes incorrectly written Melilotus indica, is a yellow-flowered herb in the Fabaceae family. It is native to northern Africa, Europe and Asia, but naturalized throughout the rest of the world.

Common names in English include sweet clover (or sweet-clover), sour clover (sour-clover, sourclover), Indian sweet-clover, annual yellow sweetclover, Bokhara clover, small-flowered sweet clover, common melilot, small-flowered melilot, small melilot, sweet melilot, Californian lucerne and Hexham scent. In Australia and New Zealand, where it is naturalized, it is sometimes called King Island melilot or King Island clover.[1][2][3]

Description

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It is an annual or biennial herb from 10 to 50 centimetres (3.9 to 19.7 inches) in height (rarely to one metre), with trifoliate leaves and small yellow flowers borne in dense racemes.[4] Similar to Melilotus altissima Thuill. in general. The flowers are 2 – 3 mm long and produce a hairless pod of similar length.[5] Its leaves have a sweet, cloying scent when crushed.

Taxonomy

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It was first published as Trifolium indicum by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 Species plantarum. It was transferred into Melilotus by Carlo Allioni in 1785.[6]

Distribution and habitat

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It has a wide native distribution, ranging from Macaronesia and northern Africa, through Europe, and into temperate and tropical Asia. It is naturalized throughout most of the rest of the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, South America, Australia and New Zealand.[1] In its introduced regions, it is frequently found along fields, roadsides, and other disturbed areas[7].

Melilotus indicus has been identified as halophyte, maintaining high germination and growth rates in saline substrates[8]. It utilizes salt inclusion as its main tolerance mechanism, which allows the plant to accumulate high levels of salt ions[9].

Uses and economic importance

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It is used as a source of nectar for bees, as forage[10], and as a soil improver through its nitrogen fixing properties. As a salt tolerant species, it is a particularly useful forage crop where other legumes cannot grow[9]. By 1907, it was in use at King Island for cattle fodder, explaining its Australian name.[11]

Melilotus indicus has been used as a traditional medicine for its analgesic, antioxidant, aperitive, emollient, and anti-inflammatory properties[12][13][14]. of Plants of the Melilotus genus contain coumarins, compounds with anticoagulant properties[15]. Melilotus indicus extract demonstrates cytotoxic effects against multiple types of cancer cells[16].

References

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  1. ^ a b "Melilotus indicus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
  2. ^ "Melilotus". Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database. University of Melbourne. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  3. ^ "Melilotus indicus". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government, Canberra. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Melilotus indicus (L.) All". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  5. ^ Webb, D.A., Parnell, J. and Doogue, D. 1996. An Irish Flora. Dundalgan Press Ltd., Dundalk. ISBN 0-85221-131-7
  6. ^ "Melilotus indicus (L.) All". Australian Plant Name Index (APNI), IBIS database. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
  7. ^ "Mid-Atlantic Herbaria - Melilotus indicus". midatlanticherbaria.org. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  8. ^ Rogers, M. E.; Colmer, T. D.; Frost, K.; Henry, D.; Cornwall, D.; Hulm, E.; Deretic, J.; Hughes, S. R.; Craig, A. D. (2008-03-01). "Diversity in the genus Melilotus for tolerance to salinity and waterlogging". Plant and Soil. 304 (1): 89–101. doi:10.1007/s11104-007-9523-y. ISSN 1573-5036.
  9. ^ a b Al Sherif, Emad A. (2009-01-01). "Melilotus indicus (L.) All., a salt-tolerant wild leguminous herb with high potential for use as a forage crop in salt-affected soils". Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants. 204 (10): 737–746. doi:10.1016/j.flora.2008.10.004. ISSN 0367-2530.
  10. ^ Stevenson, George A. (1969-01-01). "AN AGRONOMIC AND TAXONOMIC REVIEW OF THE GENUS MELILOTUS MILL". Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 49 (1): 1–20. doi:10.4141/cjps69-001. ISSN 0008-4220.
  11. ^ "Melilotus". The Port Augusta Dispatch, Newcastle And Flinders Chronicle. 8 March 1907. p. 4 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ Abd El-Hafeez, Amer Ali; Khalifa, Hazim O.; Elgawish, Rania Abdelrahman; Shouman, Samia A.; Abd El-Twab, Magdy Hussein; Kawamoto, Seiji (2018-04). "Melilotus indicus extract induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via a mechanism involving mitochondria-mediated pathways". Cytotechnology. 70 (2): 831–842. doi:10.1007/s10616-018-0195-7. ISSN 0920-9069. PMC 5851975. PMID 29372465. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Marzouk, Mona (2021-08-08). "A comparative review on phytochemical constituents and biological effects of Melilotus indicus (L.) All. and Melilotus messanensis (L.) All., (Fabaceae): evidence for chemosystematic analysis". Egyptian Journal of Chemistry. 0 (0): 0–0. doi:10.21608/ejchem.2021.84016.4115. ISSN 2357-0245.
  14. ^ Aburjai, Talal; Hudaib, Mohammad; Tayyem, Rabab; Yousef, Mohammed; Qishawi, Maher (2007-03-21). "Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal herbs in Jordan, the Ajloun Heights region". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 110 (2): 294–304. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2006.09.031. ISSN 0378-8741.
  15. ^ "Sweet clover's therapeutic uses | Complementary and Alternative Medicine | Research Starters | EBSCO Research". EBSCO. Retrieved 2026-02-09.
  16. ^ Abd El-Hafeez, Amer Ali; Khalifa, Hazim O.; Elgawish, Rania Abdelrahman; Shouman, Samia A.; Abd El-Twab, Magdy Hussein; Kawamoto, Seiji (2018-04). "Melilotus indicus extract induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via a mechanism involving mitochondria-mediated pathways". Cytotechnology. 70 (2): 831–842. doi:10.1007/s10616-018-0195-7. ISSN 0920-9069. PMC 5851975. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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