Fabaceae

Annual yellow sweetclover

Melilotus indicus (L.) All.

Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Melilotus

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Annual yellow sweetclover (Melilotus indicus) — FlowerPhoto: Anne Parsons, CC0, from iNaturalist

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Common names

By language (10)

Arabic: تيفال, جديبة, حندقوق, حندقوق بستاني, حندقوقة, حندَقُوقَي مر, رَقْرَاق, رِيام
Chinese: 印度草木樨, 印度草木犀, 天蓝楷, 小花草木樨, 小花草木犀, 猫毛草, 蛇蜕草, 辟汗草
Czech: Komonice indická
Dutch: Kleine honingklaver
English: Annual yellow sweetclover, Snall melilot, Sweet clover, Yellow sweet clover
Finnish: Intianmesikkä
French: Mélilot des indes
German: Indischer Honigklee, Kleinblütiger Steinklee
Slovenian: Indijska medena detelja
Turkish: Küçük taş yoncası

Synonyms

Medicago parviflora (Desf.) E.H.L.Krause
Melilotus berardii Medik.
Melilotus bonplandii Ten.
Melilotus boumettii Hornem.
Melilotus brachystachyus Willd. ex Spreng.
Melilotus exaltatus Bianca
Melilotus indica (L.) All.
Melilotus indicus subsp. permixtus (Jord.) Rouy
Melilotus indicus var. bonplandii (Ten.) O.E.Schulz
Melilotus indicus var. exaltatus Rouy
Melilotus indicus var. laxiflorus Rouy
Melilotus indicus var. parvulus Rouy
Melilotus indicus var. permixtus (Jord.) P.Fourn.
Melilotus melilotus-indica Asch. & Graebn.
Melilotus melilotus-indicus Asch. & Graebn.
Melilotus minimus Roth
Melilotus neapolitanus var. macrocarpus Rouy
Melilotus occidentalis Nutt.
Melilotus parviflora Desf.
Melilotus parviflorus Desf.
Melilotus parviflorus Trautv.
Melilotus parviflorus var. rubrocalyx Herder
Melilotus permixtus Jord.
Melilotus reticulatus Pomel
Melilotus robinii Raf.
Melilotus rugulosus Willd.
Melilotus tommasinii Jord.
Sertula indica (L.) Kuntze
Trifolium indica L.
Trifolium indicum L.
Trifolium indicus L.
Trifolium melilotus L.
Trifolium melilotus var. indica L.
Trifolium melilotus-indica L.
Trifolium melilotus-parviflorus M.Bieb.
Trifolium parviflorum (Desf.) F.Dietr.
Trifolium rugulosum (Willd.) F.Dietr.
Trigonella berardii (Medik.) Sennikov
Trigonella melilotus Link
Trigonella smallii Coulot & Rabaute

Flowers

In flower: March to May, November (from 2,045 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Flower colour: yellow (USDA PLANTS Database)

Characteristics

Growth habit: Forb/herb
Lifespan: Annual
In the US and Canada: Canada: introduced, Greenland: introduced, Hawaii: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced, Pacific Basin: introduced

Toxicity: Moderate, as listed by the USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29). USDA rates how toxic a plant is to people or livestock; it is not a pet-safety rating, so ask a vet or poison line if a pet or child ate it.

Photos

FlowerPhoto: Anne Parsons, CC0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Patrick Sowers, CC0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: Justin, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
FlowerPhoto: W. Terry Hunefeld, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Angelina Marín Rojas, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Ixitixel, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Dan Horowitz, CC0, from iNaturalist
Photo: Liliane Roubaudi, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Liliane Roubaudi, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Turner Brockman, CC BY-SA 4.0, from iNaturalist
Photo: José Luis Romero Rego, CC BY-SA 2.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Melilotus

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.