{"assessment":{"band":"Harmful","fit_score":null,"harm":null,"harm_source":"https://ncwildflower.org/invasive-exotic-species-list/","invasive_evidence":[{"category":"2013 category 1","rank":1,"scientific_name":"Melilotus alba","state":"KY","url":"https://www.se-eppc.org/ky/KYEPPC_2013list.pdf"}],"native_basis":"not_native","rarity_adjustment":null,"rarity_policy":"Conservation status is displayed separately and never changes ecological scores, including when unranked.","reason":"Listed invasive in Kentucky; do not plant. Uses the shared species harm profile established from NC evidence; not a state agency severity rating.","reference":"NC native reference cohort, method 0.6.4; not a Kentucky percentile","score":-30,"scoring_inputs":{"harm_penalty":0,"invasive":true,"invasive_rank":"3","native":false,"state_rank":""},"severity_basis":"shared_rank","severity_mapping":"Existing shared species harm profile from NC source","status":"scored_invasive","version":"shared-0.6.5"},"condition_evidence":{"light":{"evidence_id":"fact:55b8d5d79ee39637e3ec1dc13bbb2cb80ae1c93296001e9255080a1fb3d1fb2f","levels":[2,3,4],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[2,4],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_light_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"},"moisture":{"evidence_id":"fact:3225cf7573ffe4804e6462a2bda6ee21325384ab67017e21d495a4a2d1ca219c","levels":[0,3],"policy":"selected-condition-categories-1","range":[0,3],"scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"semantics":"documented_native_habitat_conditions","source_field":"habitat_moisture_categories","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","status":"mapped_selected_fact"}},"evidence":{"fit_score":null,"growth_habit":["Forb/herb"],"invasive_status":{"status":"listed"},"native_status":{"status":"not_native"},"occurrence":{"county_fips":["21001","21005","21011","21013","21023","21025","21027","21029","21035","21037","21043","21049","21067","21073","21075","21079","21083","21093","21105","21109","21111","21117","21125","21135","21151","21163","21165","21171","21185","21187","21191","21193","21195","21197","21199","21211","21215"],"meaning":"Recorded occurrence; 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Missing source traits remain unknown.","fit_provenance":{"counties":"USDA lumps this with Melilotus officinalis; county records not used","light":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","moisture":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","ph":"USDA PLANTS"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":false,"flags":[],"review_status":"not_assessed"},"invasive_rank":true,"native_eligible":false,"quercus_score":-30,"state":"KY"},"garden_suitability":{"default_excluded":false,"flags":[],"review_status":"not_assessed"},"growing_observations":{"botanical_review_primary_flower_color":{"matched_name":"Melilotus albus","review_decision":{"reason":"Single consistent approved flower-color category; explicit normalization of existing observation, not a fresh anatomical verification.","sources":["melilotus-albus--usda"],"status":"reviewed","value":"yellow"},"review_note":"Single consistent approved flower-color category; explicit normalization of existing observation, not a fresh anatomical verification.","review_sources":[{"approved_for_correction":true,"evidence_kind":"existing_structured_source_observation","excerpt":"{\"flower_color\": \"Yellow\"}","retrieved":"2026-09-24","sha256":null,"source_record_id":81248,"title":"USDA PLANTS","url":"https://plants.usda.gov/"}],"review_status":"reviewed","source_label":"USDA PLANTS","source_url":"https://plants.usda.gov/","values":{"primary_flower_color":"yellow"}},"floraquest_carolinas_georgia":{"matched_name":"Melilotus albus","retrieved":"2026-10-04T13:31:16.252589+00:00","scope":{"kind":"region","region_id":"floraquest_nc_sc_ga"},"scope_note":"Original regional ecological and identification evidence; no location-specific gardening adjustments.","source_label":"FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team)","source_name":"Melilotus albus","source_record_id":2886,"source_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_url":"https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.emountainworks.android.southeastfieldguide","trait_evidence":[{"field":"habitat_description","source_column":"HabitatText","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":"Fields, roadsides, disturbed areas."},{"field":"geographic_range_description","source_column":"Description","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":"Native of Eurasia."},{"field":"phenology_source_text","source_column":"Phenology","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":"Apr-Oct."},{"field":"taxonomic_synonymy","source_column":"Synonymy","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":"[= Ar, Can, FNA11.2, Il, Mi, Mo3, NcTx, NE, NS, NY, POWO, Tx, Va, WH3, Isely (1998), Stace (2010); = Melilotus alba — Bah, C, F, G, GrPl, Pa, RAB, S, S13, SE3, Tat, Tn, W, WV, orthographic variant; = Trigonella alba (Medikus) Coulot & Rabaute; Melilotus officinalis (L.) 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Other differences useful in the determination of faded herbarium specimens are given by Isely (1998) and Yatskievych (2013): corolla 3.5-5 mm long, the wing petals about as long as the keel, ovaries narrowed at base, mature fruits with a network of raised nerves ( M. albus ) vs. corolla 5-7 mm long, the wing petals generally longer than the keel, ovaries noticeably stalked at base, mature fruits with a pattern of cross-nerves or merely with irregular cross-wrinkles ( M. officinalis )."},{"field":"heliophily_index","source_column":"HIndex","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":8},{"field":"regional_wetland_indicators","source_column":"WetlandStatus1..5","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":[{"source_column":"WetlandStatus1","value":"FACU"},{"source_column":"WetlandStatus2","value":"FACU"},{"source_column":"WetlandStatus3","value":"FACU"},{"source_column":"WetlandStatus4","value":"FACU"},{"source_column":"WetlandStatus5","value":"FACU"}]},{"field":"wetland_source_note","source_column":"WetlandNote","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"Organism","value":"taxonomic split from wetland indicator species"},{"field":"habitat_moisture_categories","source_column":"Attr2","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":["Dry","Moist"]},{"field":"habitat_light_categories","source_column":"Attr3","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":["Partial shade","Full sun"]},{"field":"graphic_key_source_attributes","source_column":"Attr0..25","source_database_sha256":"684f6b364ff9f3023aa61ed02ae50f6f6d6d4d3bcf76847b78ab769ae0453469","source_record_id":2886,"source_table":"GraphicKey","value":{"Attr0":"gr09","Attr1":"nc_cp,nc_mt,nc_pd,sc_cp,sc_mt,sc_pd,ga_cp,ga_mt,ga_pd,","Attr10":"in,nr","Attr11":"3","Attr12":"s","Attr13":"bil","Attr15":"wh","Attr16":"n","Attr17":"DSS","Attr2":"Dry,Moist","Attr3":"Part,Sun","Attr3a":"n","Attr3a_subregion":"native_nc_cp:n,native_nc_mt:n,native_nc_pd:n,native_sc_cp:n,native_sc_mt:n,native_sc_pd:n,native_ga_cp:n,native_ga_mt:n,native_ga_pd:n,","Attr4":" 3-11","Attr5":"er","Attr6":"glb,pub","Attr7":"alt","Attr8":"c","Attr9":"wi"}}],"values":{"botanical_comments":"The similar M. albus and M. officinalis are apparently incompatible (Isely 1998) and differ in less obvious ways than flower color; they should not be synonymized, as was done by Kartesz (1999, 2010, 2022). 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State occurrence alone does not establish nativity; combined regional evidence is labeled estimated.","label":"Not native to Kentucky","rule":"southeast-native-synthesis-1","status":"not_native"},"source_name":"Melilotus albus","taxon_id":"taxon:a5590a82-e066-57b4-81c9-08aa0e791c3b","revision":"publish:5809c037-0e9a-430a-8008-5ab6f69800c0","photos":[{"id":"inat-464161778","src":"/api/photos/image/b00f8a953ff6f0ab69cc11553c04196fbb74e0423d7cc596ad6c852de42a4a05.jpeg","view":"bloom","alt":"Melilotus albus — flower photograph","width":500,"height":375,"artist":"(c) zebedeugalinha, some rights reserved (CC BY)","license":"CC BY 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","source_url":"https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/464161778","changes":"iNaturalist medium image; no additional crop, retouching, or re-encoding."}]}