Melilotus officinalis Seeds | Yellow Melilot
LATIN NAME: Melilotus officinalis
COMMON NAME: Yellow Melilot, Yellow Sweet Clover, Common Melilot
Plant Profile
Known to gardeners as Yellow Melilot, Melilotus officinalis is a tall, erect, biennial in the pea family, native to meadows and roadsides of Europe and the western Asia, while it is grown for its fragrance, its value to the bees. Yellow melilot is a tall and fragrant herb of meadows and roadsides, and it has been a valued plant of bees, soil and old traditions of Europe. Add these qualities together and you have a species well worth a place in the garden.
Science & Biotechnology
Seed science, comparative botany and horticultural selection all touch on Melilotus officinalis, a representative of the pea family with clear practical value. Yellow sweet clover has a real and distinguished place in the research. For researchers, plants like this one offer practical material for propagation studies and selection work.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Yellow Melilot earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. Ecologically, yellow sweet clover is a generous plant of the garden. Its tall, slender spikes of small, yellow, pea-like flowers feed bees and many insects, and its fine, leafy growth gives a fine, upright presence to meadow garden and the wayside. Once it has its roots down, it more or less looks after itself.
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 Yellow Melilot from seed is straightforward. Sow evenly over the surface and cover lightly into a loose, well-drained seed compost, water in gently, and keep the sowing in bright light with steady moisture. Shift the seedlings into small pots as soon as they can be handled, and give them bright light until planting-out time.
Our Take
It grows as a tall, erect, biennial, so its place in the garden is easy to plan. Yellow Melilot, Yellow Sweet Clover, Common Melilot earns its space through character rather than fuss. The only critical period is germination, when the compost must stay evenly moist.
Related Reading
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