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Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-093
Yellow Sweet Clover
Melilotus officinalis
Yellow Sweet Clover is a biennial legume that colonizes poor open ground on its own, fixing nitrogen and breaking up compacted subsoil with a deep taproot before dying after it sets seed in its second year. Its early flowers make it one of the biggest honey sources in North America, and it doubles as forage - but only fresh: the plant's coumarin turns toxic to cattle if it is cut for hay and allowed to spoil or mold. The same chemicals that let it choke out competing weeds work just as well against native plants, so it belongs on cultivated ground rather than a wild margin.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–9
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–8.5
- Plant type
- Biennial
- Mature height
- 3.9 ft
- Mature spread
- 28 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
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Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
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Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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