Melilotus officinalis
Yellow sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis)
The Yellow sweet clover ( Melilotus officinalis ) is also called Common clover, melilot, Often referred to as sweet clover and sweet clover. He belongs to the legume family ( Fabaceae ).
Appearance
The Yellow sweet clover is a biennial to perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the plant height of 30 to 100 ( 200 ) cm. It has erect and branched stems. Their leaves are equipped with 6 to 14 pairs of lateral nerves. The stipules are entire or ( middle and bottom ) at the base on each side with a tooth. The racemose inflorescences are 4-10 cm long. The yellow corolla is 5-7 mm long. The petals are yellow colored by carotenoids. The wings are longer than the boat. The wings are fused at the base with the boat. The legumes and ovary are bald. The fruits ( transitional forms between sleeves and nuts) are a - ( or two - ) SAMIg, they do not or only partially jumping up and are only about 3 to 5 mm long. The sleeves are querrunzelig and brown when ripe.
Ecology
The Yellow sweet clover is a Hemikryptophyt with an up to 90 cm deep, oblique ascending taproot. He has root nodules with nitrogen -fixing bacteria. Its pinnate leaves have leaf joint and lie down at night together ( nyctinasty ).
The flowers are " leading nectar butterfly flowers with folding mechanism ". The flowers are very nectar rich and fragrant with honey. The species is a nectar and pollen donor of particular value. Because of only 2 mm long corolla tube of nectar and insects kurzrüsseligen is accessible. Pollinators are bees and hoverflies. Flowering period: June to September.
The fruits are spread by the wind and possibly also by the people.
Occurrence
The Yellow sweet clover grows widespread weed in sunny meadows, along roads, railway premises, in quarries, on Erdanrissen to banks and dumps. He loves base-rich, calcareous and moderately nitrogen-poor soil. In areas with low lime rock he occasionally missing. After Ellenberg he is a light plant, requiring heat to nitrogen-poor sites and a growing Trockniszeiger Ordnungscharakterart and productive forming drought, two years to perennial ruderal ( Onopordetalia acanthii ). The plant is a Rohbodenpionier.
Ingredients and use
Because of its extensive root system of the Yellow sweet clover for fixing gravel and scree slopes can be used. Because of its nectar wealth, he is very popular with beekeepers and will therefore gladly sown.
The fresh or dried leaves and flowering shoots are used as herbal treatment for edema and as a vein tonic. The main active ingredients are ( up to 1% ) coumarin, the enzymatically from melilotoside ( the glucoside of the 2'- hydroxy cinnamic acid ) is formed in drying or wounding of the plant tissue, in addition to Melilotin (3,4- dihydrocoumarin ). For use often come finished preparations, thus poisoning can be avoided by overdose. The administration is contraindicated in pregnancy, and concomitant treatment with anticoagulants caution. The coumarin is responsible for the pleasant fragrance of sweet clover woodruff. The flowering herb is therefore used after drying for scented bouquets and for flavoring drinks.
Because of the coumarin content of the Yellow sweet clover is hardly suitable as a forage crop, but he was formerly known as moth balls, as well as in times of need as a tobacco substitute ( embankment, last slash ) used.