Common name
English: Indian sweet-clover
German: Kleinblütiger Steinklee
Mandarin: 印度草木犀 (yin du cao mu xi)
English: Indian sweet-clover
German: Kleinblütiger Steinklee
Mandarin: 印度草木犀 (yin du cao mu xi)
Kingdom: Plantae (2635)
Phylum: Tracheophyta (2573)
Class: Magnoliopsida (2146)
Order: Fabales (241)
Family: Fabaceae (241)(family description)
Genus: Melilotus (3)
Epithet: indicus (L.)All. (2)
Synonyms: Melilotus bonplandii Ten., Melilotus indica (L.) All., Melilotus melilotus-indica Asch. & Graebn., Melilotus melilotus-indicus Asch. & Graebn., Melilotus parviflora Desf., Melilotus parviflorus Desf., Melilotus permixtus Jord., Melilotus tommasinii Jord., Trifolium indica L., Trifolium indicum L., Trifolium melilotus indicus L., Trifolium melilotus-indica L.
indica => from or referring in some way to India
indicum => of Indian origin
indicus => of Indian origin
parviflora => small flowers
parviflorus => having small flowers, or smaller than the type
tommasinii => in honor of Muzio Giuseppe Spirito de Tommasini (1794-1879), botanist and mayor of Trieste under Austria-Hungary (today Italy)
Climate: sub-tropical
Habit: herb
Flower colour: yellow
Check for Melilotus indicus at
World Flora Online, GBIF or IPNI