1. Melilotus albus Medikus, Vorles. Churpfälz. Phys.-Öcon. Ges. 2: 382. 1787.
白花草木犀 bai hua cao mu xi
Annual or biennial herbs, glabrescent. Stems erect, 70-200 cm, terete, hollow, much branched. Stipules subulate, 6-10 mm, entire; petiole slender, shorter than leaflet; leaflets lanceolate, oblong, or oblanceolate-oblong, 15-30 × (4-)6-12 mm, puberulent abaxially, glabrous adaxially, lateral veins running into teeth, 12-15 pairs, margins shallowly serrate. Racemes 8-20 cm; flowers 40-100; bracts 1.5-2 mm; pedicels 1-2 mm. Corolla white, 3.5-5 mm; standard larger than wings and keel. Ovary narrowly ovate; ovules 2-4. Legume elliptic to oblong, 3-3.5 mm, veins reticulate, thin, brown, dark when ripe, apex acute, beaked. Seeds 1 or 2, brown, ovoid, papillate. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Jul-Sep.
Moist soil in fields, roadsides, wastelands. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan [Asia, Europe].