DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Melilotus officinalis | Yellow Sweetclover 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Yellow sweetclover was introduced to North America from Europe in the
18th century as a forage crop species.  It is now pandemic in the United
States and nearly so in Canada, occurring more frequently in the
southern third [29,62,64,66].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES10  White - red - jack pine
   FRES14  Oak - pine
   FRES15  Oak - hickory
   FRES17  Elm - ash - cottonwood
   FRES18  Maple - beech - birch
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES29  Sagebrush
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper
   FRES38  Plains grasslands
   FRES39  Prairie


STATES : 
     AL  AK  AZ  AR  CA  CO  CT  DE  FL  GA
     HI  ID  IL  IN  IA  KS  KY  LA  ME  MD
     MA  MI  MN  MS  MO  MT  NE  NV  NH  NJ
     NM  NY  NC  ND  OH  OK  OR  PA  RI  SC
     SD  TN  TX  UT  VT  VA  WA  WI  WY  AB
     MB  NB  NF  NT  NS  ON  PE  PQ  SK  YT


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     ACAD  AGFO  ALPO  ASIS  BADL  BIHO
     BISO  BICA  BLCA  BLRI  BRCA  BUFF
     CACH  CANY  CAHA  CARE  CATO  CHCU
     CHCH  CHIR  COLO  COLM  CRMO  CUGA
     CUVA  DEVA  DEWA  DETO  DINO  EFMO
     FIIS  FLFO  FODO  FOBU  GATE  GWCA
     GWMP  GLAC  GLCA  GRCA  GRTE  GRSA
     GRSM  GUMO  GUIS  INDU  ISRO  JECA
     LAME  LAMR  LABE  MACA  MANA  MEVE
     MOCA  NATR  NABR  NERI  NOCA  OBRI
     OLYM  OZAR  PEFO  PIRO  PIPE  RICH
     ROCR  ROMO  SARA  SCBL  SHEN  SLBE
     THRO  TICA  VAFO  VOYA  WACA  WHSA
     WICR  WICA  YELL  


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont
   14  Great Plains
   15  Black Hills Uplift
   16  Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   Common in many Kuchler Plant Associations


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   Common in many SAF Cover Types


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Yellow sweetclover is found in a wide variety of habitats.  Clary and
Medin [11] reported yellow sweetclover as an important forb in riparian
zones dominated by Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratense) and bluebunch
wheatgrass (Pseudoregneria spicata).

Hopkins and others [32] reported that yellow sweetcover is an important
understory component of cottonwood (Populus spp.) woodlands.  The
overstory components are eastern cottonwood (P. deltoides var.
deltoides), Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum), and green ash
(Fraxinus pensylvanica).

Girard and others [28] reported yellow sweetclover as a consistent,
important understory species in an eastern cottonwood/green ash
community type.  The other dominant overstory species is Rocky Mountain
juniper.  Important shrubs are wolfberry and wild rose (Rosa woodsii).
Dominant herbs are yellow sweetclover, veiny meadowrue (Thalictrum
venulosum), and false Solomon's seal (Smilacina stellata), with no
important grasses.  They also reported a similar community type in the
same series:  eastern cottonwood/Rocky Mountain juniper plus green ash,
with the same important shrubs.  The herb layer is dominated by yellow
sweetclover, poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii), Canada wildrye
(Elymus canadensis), and daisyseed meadowrue (Thalictrum dasycarpum).
In addition, they reported a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)/Rocky
Mountain juniper habitat type with the shrub layer dominated by
wolfberry and the herb layer dominated by western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum
smithii), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and sedge.  Yellow
sweetclover is consistently present but not a major component of ground
cover.

Related categories for Species: Melilotus officinalis | Yellow Sweetclover