Ribbed Melilot
Ribbed Melilot - Melilotus officinalis
Medium to tall hairless plant to 2.5 metres tall with spreading to erect stems. Flowers yellow, 4 to 7 mm, in slender lax racemes, the wings longer than the keel. Glabrous seeds.
Tall Melilot (Melilotus altissima)
The keel (lowest petal) is shorter than the wings (side petals) and the standard (top petal). Wings and standard are about equal in length. Fruits brown and glabrous when ripe
A photo of the plant in its habitat, plus a side on view of flowers, or fruits.
A weed of rough waste ground, but sometimes on cultivated land, and preferring heavier soils.
July to September.
Annual or perennial.
Widespread in England south of the Tyne, but rarer in the west.
Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 107 of the 617 tetrads.
Craig Mabbett
near Broughton Astley
04 November 2015
Keel shorter than wing petals
David Nicholls
Ratby Disused Railway
09 July 2011
Craig Mabbett
near Broughton Astley
04 November 2015
glabrous seeds
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk Leire
08 July 2012
Graham Calow
Witherley
01 August 2015
AJ Cann
Ketton Quarry
21 June 2015
Graham Calow
Jubilee Walk Leire
08 July 2012
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Agromyza frontella
The larva of the Agromyzid fly Agromyza frontella mines the leaves of various Leguminosae such as Clovers, Melilot and Lucerne. It starts as a linear mine. usually running towards the tip of the leaf then turning back a into a blotch in the midrib area. Frequently, no blotch is formed.
Agromyza nana
The larva of the Agromyzid fly Agromyza nana mines the leaves of Clovers and other species in the Leguminosae family. The mines have a short, broad gallery leading to a conspicuous, roundish white blotch in the centre of the leaf. The blotch is on the upper surface with some deep areas often containing frass.