Yellow sweet-clover
General poisoning notes:
Yellow sweet-clover (Melilotus officinalis) is cultivated and naturalized across most of Canada. When cut for feed, molding usually occurs because of the succulent stems. The molds can metabolize coumarin which is hydrolyzed from a plant glycoside. Dicoumarol is produced, which is toxic to animals. See notes under white sweet-clover (Melilotusalba).
Description:
The flowers are in long, narrow racemes. The individual flowers are pea-like and 1/4 inch (7 mm) long. The leaves are green, alternate, and pinnate with 3 elliptic-oblong to egg-shaped, toothed, point-tipped leaflets. The stems are long, slender, and held upright.The similar Annual Yellow Sweetclover (Melilotus indicus) has smaller flowers and leaflets with blunt or indented tips.
Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Melilotus officinalis (L.) Lam.
Synonyms: Melilotus alba, M. albus, M. arvensis, M. leucanthus, M. lutea
Vernacular name(s): yellow sweet-clover
Common Names: Yellow Sweetclover, Yellow Sweet Clover, White Sweetclover, White Sweet Clover, Ribbed Melilot, Field Melilot
Scientific family name: Leguminosae
Vernacular family name: pea
Geographic Information:
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Quebec,Yukon Territory.
Toxic parts:
Leaves, stems.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
A glycoside, melilotoside, hydrolyzes to coumarin. Coumarin is metabolized by molds into dicoumarol, which interrupts vitamin K use in animals. Blood-clotting abilities are affected. See additional notes under white sweet-clover (Melilotusalba).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Dicoumarol, melilotoside.
Chemical diagram(s) are courtesy of Ruth McDiarmid, Biochemistry Technician, Kamloops Range Station, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Kamploops, British Columbia, Canada.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.
Cattle
General symptoms of poisoning:
Anemia, hemorrhage.
Notes on poisoning:
See notes under white sweet-clover (Melilotusalba).
Horses
General symptoms of poisoning:
Anemia, hemorrhage.
Notes on poisoning:
See notes under white sweet-clover (Melilotusalba).
