SPECIES DESCRIPTION
MELILOTUS ITALICUS

Family and Genus:- See- LEGUMINOSAE

Common Names:- Italian melilot

Homotypic Synonyms:- Medicago italica, Sertula italica, Trifolium italicum,
Trigonella italica.

Meaning:- Melilotus (Gr) Honey-clover. A name used by the Greek academic
Theophrastus and refers to melilot's attractiveness to honeybees.
                  Italicus (L) Italian, from Italy.
               
General description:- Suberect, glabrous or sparsely pilose annual.

Stems:-
1) 20-60 cm., usually ascending, glabrous.

Leaves:-
1) Leaflets,
    a) lower, orbicular-obovate.
    b) upper, narrower, all obtuse or truncate, serrate above the middle.
2) Stipules, lanceolate, laciniate-dentate in the lower part.

Flowers:-
1) Peduncles, exceeding the petiole of the subtending leaf.
2) Racemes, dense, 20-40-flowered, somewhat elongating in fruit.
3) Corolla, 6-9 mm, bright yellow,
    a) standard, longer than the wings and keel.

Fruit:-
1) Legume, 5-6 mm, foveolate-rugose, globose, obtuse, apiculate, strongly  
    reticulately-veined, yellowish or greyish-brown when ripe.

Key features:-
1) Corolla, 6-9 mm.
2) Legume, foveolate-rugose, globose.

Click here for a glossary of terms used.

Habitat:- Coastal habitats, rocky slopes with Dry open shrubby vegetation or
scrubland vegetation  fallow fields, open woodland, archaeological sites. 0-900 m.

Distribution:- Coastal areas of, W. Greece. Mediterranean region eastwards to
Anatolia and Palastine. Limited distribution on Crete mainly around coastal areas.
Rare.

Flowering time:- Late Mar to May.

Photos by:- Rose-Maie Uppman