Common name: Common Melilot
Melilotus officinalis (L.) Pall. APNI* 
Description: Annual or biennial, decumbent to erect herb, mostly 50–100 cm high, sparsely hairy to glabrous.
Leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets obovate to lanceolate, 10–30 mm long, 4–22 mm wide, apex rounded, margins toothed; stipules bristle-like, c. 5 mm long, entire.
Raceme 20–50-flowered, longer than subtending leaf; peduncle 4–10 cm long, elongating in pod. Calyx 2–3 mm long. Corolla 5–7 mm long, yellow.
Pod ± globose, 3–4 mm long, reticulate-wrinkled, brownish; seed usually 1.
Flowering: mainly spring to early summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Weed of cultivation and waste places, not common. Native of Eur.
NSW subdivisions: *NT, *CT, *CWS, *SWP
Other Australian states: *Vic. *Tas. *S.A.
Text by E. H. Norris
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 2 (1991)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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