Melilotus albus Seeds | White Sweet Clover
LATIN NAME: Melilotus albus
COMMON NAME: White Sweet Clover
Plant Profile
White Sweet Clover (Melilotus albus) grows as a tall, upright, branching biennial. Over seasons it steadily builds a rounded crown, standing 5-10 metres at maturity. It does well in sun and dry, open, free-draining ground. Each of these traits is modest on its own; together they make a garden-worthy plant.
Science & Biotechnology
The species features in the wider study of the Melilotus group, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. Species has also been studied in chemistry, since dried plants carry a sweet scent, and their content, including coumarins, has been examined, while traditional uses of plant have been studied. Breeders and collectors still work with it, so well-kept seed remains available.
Uses & Benefits
White Sweet Clover brings genuine presence to the garden and earns its keep across the growing season. Ecologically, white sweetclover is a generous legume of the fields. Its creamy, fragrant flowers feed bees and other insects through a long season, its nitrogen-fixing roots enrich soil, and its tall growth gives cover for farmland wildlife. For a grower, white sweetclover is an easy and useful plant, and for a gardener it brings fragrant, creamy bloom and a plant that feeds soil and the bees. After the first season it asks for very little beyond a place that suits it.
Sweet clover’s coumarin scent perfumes hay and flavors traditional cheeses; its chemistry led to the discovery of the anticoagulant dicoumarol, and standardized melilotus extracts serve in European vein preparations.
Growing from Seed
Raising White Sweet Clover from seed is straightforward. Use a fine, free-draining seed compost, scatter the seed evenly, cover it lightly and hold it just moist in good light. Move strong seedlings into individual pots, keep them in good light, and set them out when the weather and their size agree.
Our Take
As a tall, upright, branching biennial, it settles into a routine quickly once established. Once established, White Sweet Clover largely looks after itself. Young plants want steady water; older plants take conditions as they come.
Related Reading
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