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.
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).
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