Taxon:  Melilotus altissimus Thuill.



Summary
Genus:
Melilotus
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Tribe:
Trifolieae
Nomen number:
23991
Place of publication:
Fl. env. Paris ed. 2:378.  1799 "altissima"
Verified:
08/25/1989 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
21 (13  active, 10  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Melilotus macrorrhizus (Waldst. & Kit.) Pers.
Trifolium macrorrhizum Waldst. & Kit.

Images (1 total. Click on image for more.)
Seed

Conservation Status

Reference(s)
  1. University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health
  2. Afonin, A. N., S. L. Greene, N. I. Dzyubenko, & A. N. Frolov, eds. Interactive agricultural ecological atlas of Russia and neighboring countries. Economic plants and their diseases, pests and weeds (on-line resource).
  3. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
  4. APHIS. Agricultural Risk Management System United States Department of Agriculture.
  5. Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning
  6. Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 145.
  7. Encke, F. et al. 1984. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 13. Auflage
  8. Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
  9. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  10. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
  11. Pignatti, S. 1982. Flora d'Italia.
  12. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  13. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  14. Sales, F. & I. C. Hedge. 1993. Melilotus Miller (Leguminosae): typification and nomenclature. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 51:172. Note: designates neotype
  15. Sinskaya, E. N., ed. 1950. Perennial leguminous plants. Part I. Medic, sweetclover, fenugreek. Kul't. Flora SSSR 13(1):422-423.
  16. Smythies, B. E. 1984-1986. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882.
  17. Stace, C. 1995. New flora of the British Isles.
  18. Stevenson, G. A. 1969. An agronomic and taxonomic review of the genus Melilotus Mill. Canad. J. Pl. Sci. 49:7.
  19. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
  20. Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
  21. Voronchikhin, V. V. & N. A. Basilevskaya. 1974. Opredelenie sornykh vidov roda Melilotus Adans. po plodam i semenam. (Identification of weed plants from the genus Melilotus Adans. with the help of their pods and seeds). Vestn. Moskovsk. Univ., Ser. 6, Biol. 29:35.
Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
Englishtall melilot  1Stace, C. 1995. New flora of the British Isles.
Englishtall yellow sweet-clover  1Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
English (Canada)tall yellow sweet-clover Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada official name2Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 145.
Frenchgrand mélilot  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
French (Canada)mélilot élevé Agriculture & Agroalimentaire Canada nom officiel2Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 145.
Germanhoher Steinklee  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Portuguesetrevo-de-cheiro  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanishmeliloto gigante  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Spanishtrébol oloroso  2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
Swedishstor sötväppling  2Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNoteReference
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeMoldova   
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeRussian Federation-European partEuropean part Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeUkraine   
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeAustria  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeBelgium  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeCzechoslovakia  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeGermany  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeHungary  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeNetherlands  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropePoland  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeMiddle EuropeSwitzerland  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeDenmark  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeNorway  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeNorthern EuropeSweden  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeRomania  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Native
Europe
  • NORTHERN EUROPE: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
  • MIDDLE EUROPE: Czechoslovakia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland
  • EASTERN EUROPE: Russian Federation-European part [European part], Moldova, Ukraine
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Italy, Romania
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France

Reference(s)
  1. Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
  2. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  3. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1964-1980. Flora europaea.
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodforagepotentialSinskaya, E. N., ed. 1950. Perennial leguminous plants. Part I. Medic, sweetclover, fenugreek. Kul't. Flora SSSR 13(1):422-423.
Food additivesflavoring Uphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2.
Human foodvegetablecult. as vegetable in China for young shoots, as Melilotus macrorrhizaUphof, J. C. T. 1968. Dictionary of economic plants, ed. 2. Note: as Melilotus macrorrhizus
Vertebrate poisonsmammals Cooper, M. R. & A. W. Johnson. 1998. Poisonous plants and fungi in Britain: animal and human poisoning
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2026. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://npgstest.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=23991. Accessed 12 May 2026.