Park fights to stop spread of yellow sweetclover
Posted By The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. on August 16, 2007
Student Conservation Association intern Lindsey Stecker pulling sweetclover.
Yellow sweetclover (Melilotus officinalis), an introduced European plant, grows profusely along roadways, trails, and in other disturbed areas throughout the plains and montane regions of North America, including Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Sweetclover is a hardy biennial that is used as fodder for livestock and for producing clover honey. Outside of cultivation, sweetclover can out-compete native plants, as well as overrun pastureland. Sweetclover is aggressive and difficult to eradicate, and seeds can remain viable in the soil for up to 30 years.
Yellow sweetclover bushes can grow from 2 to 5 feet tall and have strong taproots. At right, sweetclover grows densely along the road to the Visitor Center. Park staff, particularly Student Conservation Association interpretive intern Lindsey Stecker (Boston University) and Chief Ranger Rick Wilson, have been working hard to control the spread of sweetclover this summer.
-Melissa Barton
Photo Credits: Melissa Barton
The Friends of the Florissant Fossil Beds, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) Friends of the Park group supporting 
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