Melilotus indicus (L.)All.

English: Indian sweet-clover

German: Kleinblütiger Steinklee

Mandarin: 印度草木犀 (yin du cao mu xi)

Kingdom: Plantae (2616)

  Phylum: Tracheophyta (2519)

    Class: Magnoliopsida (2128)

      Order: Fabales (239)

        Family: Fabaceae (239)(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

• [413] International Legume Database & Information Service
• [1089] Melilotus indicus - Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER)
• [1139] Melilotus indicus - Plants For A Future
• [1458] Melilotus indicus - Flora of China @ efloras.org