The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
sweet clover
or melilot (ml´lt) (KEY) , Eurasian and North African leguminous herbs of the genus Melilotus of the family Leguminosae (pulse family). Sweet clovers, now widely naturalized in North America, are used as forage, cover, and soiling crops. Attractive to bees for their fragrant blossoms, they are also honey plants. Melilotus is a different genus from that of the true clovers. Sweet clover is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.