
Habitat
Red Clover is a perennial herb, origin believed to be Britain
where it is abundant, now a world wide escape, naturalized in
nearly every country, even the Arctic Circle and high up into
mountains. Cultivation: Red Clover is an easily grown plant, from
seed or root cuttings, requires little attention. The long root
is rhizome, and sends out runners, producing several stems 1 to
2 feet high, slightly hairy; leaves ternate, leaflets ovate, slightly
toothed, ending in long point often lighter colored V shape in
center, flowers red to purple, fragrant, in dense terminal ovoid
or round heads. Blooming from April thought out the summer months.
Harvest flowers and dry for later herb use as it comes into bloom.
Harvest edible leaves for salad before flowers fully bloom.
Properties
Red Clover is edible and medicinal, the young leaves and
new flowers are harvested, and are used in salads, soups, or as
a pot herb. The sprouted seeds are edible in salads and have a
crisp texture and robust flavor. A delicate sweet and medicinal
tea is made from the fresh or dried flowers, it is alterative,
antiscrofulous, antispasmodic, aperient, detergent, diuretic,
expectorant, sedative and tonic. Red Clover has also shown anticancer
activity, poultices of the herb have been used as local applications
to cancerous growths. Internally, the Red Clover plant is used
as an alternative medicine for skin complaints such as eczema
and psoriasis, cancers of the breast, ovaries and lymphatic system,
chronic degenerative diseases, gout, whooping cough and dry coughs.
Red clover is now involved in research for a certain medicinal
alkaloid 'slaframine' which is often found in diseased clover,
this substance has shown antidiabetic and anti-AIDS activity.
Recipe
"Medicinal" tea: To 1 tbls. dry flowers or herb add
1 cup boiling water, steep 10 min., sweeten to taste, drink warm
for cough and upset stomach.