Melilotus sulcatusDesf.

Furrowed MelilotMediterranean sweetclover

WFO wfo-0000185398 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Daniel Cahen
fig. a Daniel Cahen, CC BY 4.0 / 2019-04-24 / obs. 35970421
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. b Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7760368
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Thomas Koffel
fig. c Thomas Koffel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7743204
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Jacek Pietruszewski
fig. d Jacek Pietruszewski, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 184721524
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Karim Haddad
fig. e Karim Haddad, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 141006686
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Julien Renoult
fig. f Julien Renoult, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 7823945
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Alessia Guggisberg
fig. g Alessia Guggisberg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 189097023
Melilotus sulcatus, photographed by Mattia Menchetti
fig. h Mattia Menchetti, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 6528416

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 27 botanical countries

Regions where Melilotus sulcatus is native: Algeria, Canary Is., Egypt, Libya, Madeira, Morocco, Tunisia, Western Sahara, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Lebanon-Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Türkiye, Albania, Baleares, Corse, France, Greece, Italy, Kriti, NW. Balkan Pen., Portugal, Sardegna, Sicilia, Spain, Türkiye-in-Europe AlgeriaEgyptLibyaMoroccoTunisiaWestern SaharaCyprusEast Aegean Is.Lebanon-SyriaPalestineSinaiTürkiyeAlbaniaCorseFranceGreeceItalyKritiNW. Balkan Pen.PortugalSiciliaSpainTürkiye-in-Europe Canary Is.MadeiraBalearesSardegna
Native distribution of Melilotus sulcatus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Albania ALB EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Corse COR
France FRA
Greece GRC
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Portugal POR
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
Spain SPA
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Canary Is. CNY
Egypt EGY
Libya LBY
Madeira MDR
Morocco MOR
Tunisia TUN
Western Sahara WSA
Cyprus CYP ASIA-TEMPERATE
East Aegean Is. EAI
Lebanon-Syria LBS
Palestine PAL
Sinai SIN
Türkiye TUR

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Medicago sulcata (Desf.) E.H.L.Krause
  • Melilotus compactus Salzm. ex Guss.
  • Melilotus indicus var. prostratus P.Palau
  • Melilotus laevis Moench
  • Melilotus longifolius Ten.
  • Melilotus sulcata Desf.
  • Melilotus sulcatus f. angustifolius O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus f. diffusus O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus f. humilis Rouy
  • Melilotus sulcatus f. latifolius (Willk.) O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus f. simplex O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus prol. aschersonii O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus prol. libanoticus (Ser.) O.E.Schulz
  • Melilotus sulcatus subsp. aschersonii (O.E.Schulz) P.Fourn.
  • Melilotus sulcatus subsp. brachystachys Maire ex Quézel & Santa
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. angustifolius Lange
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. compactus (Salzm. ex Guss.) Coss.
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. latifolius Lange
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. latifolius Willk.
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. libanoticus Ser.
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. longiracemosus Rouy
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. major Cambess.
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. mauritanicus Rouy
  • Melilotus sulcatus var. procerior Guss.

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.