Trifolium pratense

Trifolium pratense (from Latin prātum, meaning meadow), red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family, Fabaceae. It is native to the Old World, but planted and naturalised in many other regions.

Description

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows up to 40 cm high. The stems are hairy. It has a single taproot. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaflets are smooth and oval. They have a pale V shaped mark. The flowers are purplish-mauve of pink. They are rounded. The pods have 1 seed.

Edible Uses

Young leaves are best harvested before the plant flowers and can be used raw in salads or added to soups. Cooked alone, they make a good spinach-like vegetable. Dried leaves can be powdered and sprinkled over foods such as boiled rice, and impart a vanilla flavour to baked goods. Nutritionally, fresh leaves contain 81% water, 4g protein, 0.7g fat, 2.6g fibre, and 2g ash per 100g. The seed can be sprouted for salads, offering a crisp texture and more robust flavour than alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Seeds contain trypsin inhibitors that can interfere with protein-digesting enzymes, but these are normally destroyed by sprouting first. Flowers and seed pods can be dried, ground into flour, and young flowers are also good eaten raw in salads. The root is edible cooked. Fresh or dried flowers make a delicate, sweet herbal tea.

Traditional Uses

The leaves are cooked and eaten. They are boiled then fried. They can be used to make tea. The leaves and the flowers are dried and can also be added to salads. (It is not wise to eat too many.) A tea can be made from the flowers collected in the early morning. The flowers are also sucked. The sprouted seeds are eaten. CAUTION: It contains oestrogen-like isoflavones. It should not be eaten by women who are pregnant or by nursing mothers.

Medicinal Uses

Red clover has a long history of safe and effective medicinal use, particularly for skin conditions, usually combined with purifying herbs such as Arctium lappa and Rumex crispus. It is a folk remedy for breast cancer, with a concentrated decoction applied to the tumour site to encourage outward growth. Flavonoids in the flowers and leaves are oestrogenic and may help with menopausal complaints. The flowering heads are alterative, antiscrofulous, antispasmodic, aperient, detergent, diuretic, expectorant, sedative, and tonic, and poultices have been applied to cancerous growths. Internally, the plant is used for skin complaints (especially eczema and psoriasis), cancers of the breast, ovaries, and lymphatic system, chronic degenerative diseases, gout, whooping cough, and dry coughs. The plant is generally harvested as it comes into flower, with some sources stating only the flowers are used. The toxic indolizidine alkaloid slaframine is often found in diseased clover even when the plant shows no external symptoms; this alkaloid is being studied for antidiabetic and anti-AIDS activity.

Known Hazards

Diseased clover, even if no symptoms of disease are visible, can contain toxic alkaloids.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. It suits high rainfall areas. In the Indian Himalayas it grows between 3,000-3,800 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 6-9. Tasmania Herbarium.

Where It Grows

Afghanistan, Africa, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Austria, Balkans, Belarus, Bosnia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Caucasus, Central Asia, Chile, China, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Easter Island, Europe*, Falklands, Finland, Himalayas, Hungary, India, Indochina, Italy, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mediterranean, Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, North America, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Mozambique, Russia, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South America, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, Uruguay, USA, Vietnam, West Indies,

Cultivation

Succeeds in a moist, well-drained circum-neutral soil in full sun. Prefers a medium-heavy loam. A short-lived perennial. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to at least -23°c. A very important food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly and moth species. It is also a good bee plant, but not so valuable as the white clover, T. repens. It grows well in an apple orchard, the trees will produce tastier fruit that stores better. It should not be grown with camellias or gooseberries because it harbours a mite that can cause fruit drop in the gooseberries and premature budding in the camellias. Very polymorphic, there are many subspecies and varieties. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby. Buttercups growing nearby depress the growth of the nitrogen bacteria by means of a root exudate.

Propagation

Pre-soak seed for 12 hours in warm water, then sow in spring in situ. If seed is scarce, sow in pots in a cold frame instead. Prick seedlings out into individual pots when large enough to handle, and plant out in late spring. Can also be propagated by division in spring.

Other Uses

A yellow dye can be obtained from the flowers. The plant is a good green manure, particularly useful for over-wintering in mixtures with Lolium perenne. It is deep-rooting and produces good bulk, though it hosts clover rot and should not be used too frequently in the same ground. It can be undersown with cereals, though it may be too vigorous in some cases. It is also used in grass mixtures for land reclamation, where its strong nitrogen-fixing properties are valuable. Acts as a dynamic accumulator, gathering minerals and nutrients from the soil into a more bioavailable form for use as fertilizer or mulch.

Other Information

The nectar from the flowers is sucked by children. The flowers are foraged and used in restaurants on Sweden. It is sold in local markets. It is cultivated.

Notes

There are about 240 Trifolium species. They are mostly temperate.

Also Known As

Argud, Che-ba do, Chilean clover, Crvena djetelina, Chupamieles, Ereqnuk, Kana eshpet, Kirmizi yonca, Koniuczya, Nefil, Peavine clover, Purple clover, Rodklover, Rotklee, Shataala, Shotal, Trebol, Trebol morado, Trebol rojo, Trebol rosado, Trevo-dos-prados, Trevo-roxo, Trevo-vermelho, Trifoglio dei prati, Trifoi

References (65)

• Aceituno-Mata, L., et al, 2021, The Persistence of Flavor: Past and Present Use of Wild Food Plants in Sierra Norte de Madrid, Spain. Front. Sustain. Food Syst., 11 January 2021
• Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 651
• Amin, M., et al, 2023, Edible wild plant species used by different linguistic groups of Kohistan Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 19:6 p 13
• Benvenuti, S. & Mazzoncini, M., 2021, The Biodiversity of Edible Flowers: Discovering New Tastes and New Health Benefits. Frontiers in Plant Science Article 569499.
• Bhatia, H., et al, 2018, Traditionally used wild edible plants of district Udhampur, J&K, India. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2018) 14:73

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