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White and yellow sweetclover

Quick facts

White and yellow sweet clovers (Melitotus alba, M. officinalis) are invasive species.

  • White and yellow sweet clover grows abundantly on disturbed lands, roadsides and abandoned fields.
  • The plants degrade native grasslands by shading out sun-loving plants, reducing diversity.

White clover (Trifolium repens), also known as Dutch white clover, is a popular plant in bee lawns and is different from this plant. 

How to identify white and yellow sweet clover

(Melitotus alba, M. officinalis)

  • Biennial herbaceous plants; very fragrant.
  • First-year plants do not bloom.
  • Second-year plants grow three to eight feet high and are bush-like.
  • Yellow sweet clover is usually shorter and blooms earlier than white sweet clover.

Stem

  • Green (may have a reddish tinge), grooved and generally hairless.
White and yellow sweet clover leaves

Leaves

  • Alternate, compound in groups of three, finely toothed, ovate, grayish-green leaflets, one inch long and three-tenths inch wide.
  • Middle leaflet grows on a short stalk.
White sweet clover flowers

Flowers

  • Small, white or yellow, floppy and tubular at base; broader toward outer edge.
  • Five-petaled flowers are densely crowded at the top two to six inches along a central stem.
  • Each flower is attached by a tiny stalk.
  • Larger plants can have numerous clusters of flowers.
  • Blooms June through August.

Seeds

  • One or two small, hard seeds per flower.
  • Seeds survive in the soil for 30 years.

Roots

  • Strong taproot.

Read more about these clovers and how to report them on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources page.

Angela Gupta, Amy Rager, and Megan M. Weber, Extension educators

Reviewed in 2024

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