What is white sweet clover used for?
Reasons to grow white sweetclover include using it for hay and pasture. If you keep any livestock, this is a great plant for your pasture and for making hay for winter feed. As a legume it can fix nitrogen to the soil, so white sweetclover is also a popular cover crop and green manure plant.
How does white sweet clover spread?
Seeds mainly spread by movement from rain and water (Turkington et al. 1978). Sweetclover has been planted throughout the US for a variety of uses including cattle forage, green manure to increase nitrogen levels in crop rotations, bee keeping, and roadside and mine soil stabilization (Turkington et al.
What is the scientific name for white sweet clover?
Melilotus albus
White sweetclover/Scientific names
How do you get rid of white sweet clover?
Hand-pulling has been successful for controlling small sweetclover populations on Nature Conservancy preserves across the country [250]. Hand-pulling is most effective when the ground is moist (early spring or late fall) and complete root removal is most likely.
What is melilotus used for?
It is also used for varicose veins and to relieve symptoms of poor blood circulation (chronic venous insufficiency) including leg pain and heaviness, night cramps, itchiness, and fluid retention (edema).
Is sweet clover poisonous?
Sweet clover poisoning is a problem of varying frequen- cy and intensity in livestock wherever sweet clover grows. The toxic compound produced in sweet clover prevents normal blood clotting resulting in hemorrhages and associated symptoms. Dicoumarin may pass the placental mem- brane and cause hemorrhage in the fetus.
Is sweet clover invasive?
Although cultivated for wildlife and livestock forage, soil stabilization, as a nitrogen-fixer, and as a bee plant, both white and yellow sweetclover are now classified in the United States as invasive in some midwestern states and Alaska.
Can you mow clover lawn?
Clover lawns do need to be mowed if grown with traditional lawn grass, and timing of mowing is important. If you prefer to control blooming and grass height mowing may be necessary as much as weekly. Grass stains usually are not from grass, they are from clover.
Is white sweet clover edible?
The flowers, raw or cooked, are edible. The whole plant thoroughly dried can be used to make a tea with a hint of vanilla. The seeds can be used as a spice. Consuming this plant occassionally or used as a spice is highly recommended.
How do you get rid of sweet clover yellow?
If you are dealing with small amounts of Sweet Clover it can be controlled by hand removal in late fall after its first year of growth. Another time to hand pull these weeds is in its second year of life in May or June, before the plant has time to flower.
Is white clover invasive?
White clover may become weedy or invasive in some regions or habitats and may displace desirable vegetation if not properly managed making it a concern in riparian and moist meadow habitats.
What can be done to prevent further spreading of sweet clover?
HERBICIDE APPLICATION TIMING Milestone, Tordon® 22K herbicide, or Transline specialty herbicide applied in spring or early summer may control both bolting plants (second year growth) and seedlings that can germinate throughout the summer into fall. Applications made later in summer will control germinating seedlings.
Where does Melilotus officinalis get its name from?
Melilotus officinalis is a herbaceous legume species, native to parts of Asia and possibly Europe (sources differ on this), that has been extensively introduced to be used as a forage and nitrogen-fixing crop. It has escaped from cultivat… More…
What kind of leaves does Melilotus albus have?
M. albus can either be annual or biennial. The annual form has been named M. albus var. annuus, but this is not accepted ( ITIS, 2013 ). Plants have a strong tap root, a crown which produces 1 to 10 upright stems, and trifoliate leaves with the terminal leaflet stalked.
Can a Melilotus albus be an invasive species?
Although M. albus can be a problematic invasive species it is also important in many places as a fodder crop, a honey producer, soil stabiliser and a useful species for land reclamation. M. albus can either be annual or biennial. The annual form has been named M. albus var. annuus, but this is not accepted ( ITIS, 2013 ).
What does Melilotus officinalis do to the soil?
Melilotus officinalis is an aggressive allelopathic weed that forms dense monospecific stands that displace and inhibit the establishment of native vegetation ( Klein, 2011; USDA-NRCS, 2017 ). As a nitrogen-fixing legume with large taproots, it has the potential to alter soil conditions and nutrient cycling.
