Spring Blooms

I walk though fields of this White Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba) every evening. As it brushes against my ankles I smell its sweet fragrance. It looks so soft that it makes one want to recline and count the clouds. This pea family (Fabaceae) plant was one of the first really green sprouts to appear on the landscape around the first of February.

Settlers used various Melilotus species as bed bug repellant in their mattresses while Native Americans used the plant to scent the home (for the fragrance) and in incense.



The Sweet Clover springs from fields of Black Medic (pictured below). Scientifically known as Medicago lupulina the Black Medic isn't as tall as the Clover but is more widespread. Medicago species are better known by their common name; Alfalfa. They make excellent feed for livestock.

Its hard to distinguish one from another of these plants until they bloom. The alfalfa (black medic) is yellow-blooming while the clover is white.



On the drier patches of ground around the Medic and Clover one finds Innocence, pictured below (Hedyotis procumbens). Hedyotis is the starviolet genus more commonly associated with the western USA.

The USDA classifies this Madder in the Genus Houstonia L. (Bluets). So, depending on who you ask, this plant is instead referred to as Houstonia procumbens (Walter ex J.F. Gmel.) Standl. -- or the Roundleaf Bluet. While I know of no ethnobotanical use for this plant, the University of Michigan School of Native American Ethnobotany notes that other Houstonia species were used to treat various ailments including sore eyes, stomach pain, menstrual troubles.



I find it all quite otherworldly . . .and walking through the fields of these plants takes my mind off the chore at hand (cardio-vascular health). As the temperatures have gotten hotter I sometimes dread the required 3-mile walk every evening. . . until I get to the big fields of clover, medic, and innocence.