Yellow Blossom Sweet Clover Melilotus officinalis

So where does the name “sweet clover” come from? Probably it relates to the fact that when the leaves are crushed, the plant puts out a distinct sweet aroma. In earlier varieties the source of this aroma was identified as coumarin and used to develop the anti-coagulant drug called ‘warfarin’. Since these anti-coagulant properties were found to be detrimental to grazing livestock modern sweet clover varieties have been bred to be low in coumarin.

Yellow blossom sweet clover is not a true clover but is probably more closely related to alfalfa. Sweet clover leaves look much like alfalfa, but the margins of alfalfa leaflets are serrated only on the tips. Sweet clover leaflets are serrated around their entire margin. It is typically a biennial, grows 2-6 feet high, and as the name implies, produces yellow flowers. It is used for forage, cover cropping, conservation, and honey making.

When compared to the white flowering types of sweet clover, yellow blossom blooms roughly 2 weeks earlier and also matures earlier, usually grows less upright, possesses finer stems, and is less productive and less winter-hardy. However, yellow blossom sweet clover persists better in pastures and tolerate adverse conditions better than white varieties.

Sweet clover can produce and deposit a high percentage of hard seeds that persist in the soil for many years. This accounts for its consistent volunteering in many areas.

Yellow blossom is one of the most drought-tolerant of forage legumes and is quite winter-hardy. In temperate climates with mild summers, it can survive and thrive through a second year of production. Sweet clovers grows where alfalfa, red clover and white clover fail, such as on clay pan soils or on sands and tolerates low fertility and wet conditions. Yellow blossom prefers non-acid soil (pH above 6.0).

While not a huge forage producer (under 3 tons/acre), yellow blossom sweet clover has a valuable taproot growth that penetrates deep down in soil - up to five feet. This deep tap root and root branches give sweet clover a greater ability than most other cover crops in extracting potassium, phosphorus and other soil nutrients from insoluble minerals. Root branches take in minerals from seldom-disturbed soil horizons, nutrients that become available as the tops and roots decompose.

Yellow blossom sweet clover contributes up to 275 lbs. N/A and adding valuable organic matter.

For optimal performance, sweet clover should be inoculated with Rhizobium Sinorhizobium meliloti. This is best achieved with Nitro-Coat®.