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161. Melilotus (Linnaeus) Miller, Gard. Dict. Abr., ed. 4. 1754.
草木犀属 cao mu xi shu
Trifolium [unranked] Melilotus Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 764. 1753 ["Meliloti"]; Brachylobus Dulac.
Annual or biennial herbs, taprooted, upright. Leaves pinnately 3-foliolate; stipules entire or nearly so, basally adnate to petiole; leaflets serrulate, lateral veins ending in teeth; stipels absent. Racemes axillary, slender, elongate; flowers numerous; bracts minute; bracteoles absent. Calyx teeth subequal. Corolla yellow or white, petals free from staminal tube, deciduous; standard ovate-oblong; wings narrowly oblong; keel broadly falcate. Stamens diadelphous; filaments capillary. Ovary sessile or shortly stipitate; ovules 2-8; style filiform, curved upward, often persistent. Legume obovoid or globose, slightly exserted from calyx, surface reticulate veined or wrinkled. Seeds 1 or 2, broadly ovoid, smooth or papillate.
About 20 species: temperate and subtropical N Africa, Asia, and Europe; four species in China.
These are fragrant herbs grown as green manure, forage crops, or bee plants.
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Flowers white. |
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1 M. albus |
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Flowers yellow |
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(2) |
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| 2 (1) |
Flowers up to 3 mm, pedicels less than 1 mm; legumes globose, ca. 2 mm. |
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4 M. indicus |
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Flowers (3-)7 mm, pedicels 1.5 mm or more; legumes ovoid-elliptic, 3-5 mm |
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(3) |
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| 3 (2) |
Stipules lanceolate, base hastate and split into several teeth or incised; leaflets serrate, teeth 15-20 on a side. |
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3 M. dentatus |
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Stipules linear-falcate, base entire or with 1 minute tooth; leaflets obscurely to strongly serrate, teeth fewer than 15 on a side. |
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2 M. officinalis |
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Lower Taxa
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