Relatives
Melilotus altissimus Thuill. - Tall melilot.
Taxonomic position.
Family Fabaceae Lindl., genus Melilotus L.Main synonyms:
M. macrorrhizus Pers.Morphology and biology.
Biennial plant with thick root, 0.5 to 1.5 m and more tall. Stems straight or arcuate. Stipules 5-8 mm long, narrow, subulate, entire, those of lower leaves sometimes with a short denticle. Upper leaves oblong, lower obovate. All leaves narrowed toward the base, with 8-20 denticles in the upper part at each side of the leaf. Leaves beneath densely covered with short adpressed hairs to subglabrous. Inflorescence a raceme 2-5 cm long, with 15-50 flowers. Pedicels 1.5-2 mm long, hairy. Flowers 5-7 mm long. Calyx 2.5 mm long, hairy, incised down to half into triangular lobes. Corolla golden-yellow. Standard oboval, with brown stripes, almost as long as keel and wings. Ovary sessile, lanceolate, with 2-3 ovules, style slightly curved, almost as long as ovary or longer. Pods 3.5-5 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, about 1.5 mm thick, pendant, rhomboid, compressed along ventral suture, darkening. Pod valves reticulately wrinkled, covered with rigid hairs. Seeds fawn-colored, slightly tuberculate, about 2 mm long. Flowers in July, fruits in September. 2n=16.Distribution.
General distribution: Atlantic and Central Europe, Western Mediterranean. Former USSR: European part - Ladoga-Ilmen, Volga-Kama, Upper Dniester, Middle Dnieper, Volga-Don, Transvolga and Lower Volga regions. In the West Siberia in Barnaul environs there is a single adventive locality.Ecology.
In wet meadows and pastures, at watersides, at roads, in inhabited areas.Use and economic value.
Wild relative of cultivated species, white and ribbed melilots.References:
Fedorov AA., Tzvelev NN., ed. 1987. Flora of the European part of the USSR. V.6. Leningrad: Nauka. P.179, 181. (In Russian).Shishkin BK., ed. 1945. Flora URSS. V.11. P.184-187. (In Russian).
Tzvelev NN. 2000. Manual of the vascular plants of Northwest Russia (Leningrad, Pskov and Novgorod Regions). St.Petersburg: State Chemical-Pharmaceutical Academy Press. P.486. (In Russian).
Cherepanov SK. 1995. Vascular plants of Russia and adjacent states (the former USSR). St.Petersburg. 990 p. (In Russian).