Clovers

Today I have another easy-to-find, beginner friendly wild plant. This is a very overlooked abundant plant that you can find almost anywhere in the Midwest if not most of the United States at this point!

Plant Profile:

Scientific Name: Trifolium repens, Trifolium hybridium, Trifolium pratense (These are most common although there are around 250 species that exist)

Preferred Habitat: Meadows, lawns, prairies, grassy areas, roadsides, fields

Edible Parts: Stems, leaves, flowers, seeds (and in some instances, the roots)

Distribution: Since we are covering a wide range of species here, I won’t add a map. However, there is a clover species for almost every part of the US.

Harvest Season: Late spring to early fall

Key Identifiers: Three oval leaves with a puffball flower on top. Each leaflet tends to have a white “V” shape on them (although Alsike clover does not).

These come in many colors and there are many relatives of clovers worldwide! (I will have some photos of one or two relatives below)

Toxic Look-Alikes: The only real look alike you’ll find is wood sorrel (or other members of the Oxalis genus). This plant is also edible and delicious, but it has heart shaped leaves like a shamrock and not oval ones like a clover.

Nutrition:

• Calories: 25

• Carbohydrates: 3g

• Protein: 3g

• Fats: 0.5g

• Vitamin C: 10% Daily Value

• Iron: 4% DV

• Fiber: 8% DV

• Anti-inflammatory

• Reduces menopausal hot flushes

• Red clover has been shown to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol

• Has the ability to fight leukemia without harming healthy cells

• Rich in isoflavones

• Rich in polysaccharides

It’s important to note that red clover (T. pratense) is the most well-researched, and more research is still coming out on white clover and other clovers.

Uses

Clovers have a handful of uses including: tinctures, teas, infused honey, fried flowers, salves, jelly, in salads, bread flour, infused oils, cocktails, added to lemonades, baked goods, and other desserts.

I would remember to separate the ideas of eating something for fun versus eating it for medicine. For instance, eating clover as a jelly will not have much by way of nutrition compared to taking a medicinal tincture!

There are many great recipes on Pinterest for these, so I definitely recommend looking there for something that looks good!

One of the easiest things to make is tea though so check out this article from Practical Self Reliance on using clovers for food and medicine. She has some great recipes!

Another excellent use for clover is as a fodder crop for livestock, and as a nitrogen fixing cover crop for fields and gardens! My article on nitrogen fixation should explain that in more detail.

A bonus use for clover that is growing in popularity is using it as a grass lawn alternative. It is soft, needs significantly less water, fertilizer, and maintenance making it a great choice! At some point I’ll write about lawn alternatives if that’s something anyone is interested in!

Identification

The three most common clovers I listed at the top are all very easy to identify, especially when in bloom.

The flowers are distinct puffy balls, there are three oval leaflets that sometimes have a white “V” shape on each one. Not every clover species is the same however, so I’d research clovers in your area (you can go to this article for reference).

The only clovers I’d use for edible and medicinal purposes are White clover, alsike clover, and red clover unless very knowledgeable foragers have told you otherwise. There is limited research on other species!

Clover is also an incredible pollinator plant. Honeybees of course love it as well as some native bees and other pollinating insects.

Growing Habits

Clovers can be both annual or perennial depending on the species. So if you’d like to grow any keep in mind that red and white clovers are perennial, and alsike clover is a shorter lived (2-3 years) perennial.

This is mostly important when you want to return to the same patch, or if you are using clover as a nitrogen fixing cover crop.

Cultivars/species

Ok so now you want to grow your own clover. Here are some awesome varieties I recommend:

• Crimson clover - Great pollinator plant, huge red blooms, great for cover cropping

• Red Feathers - Great pollinator plant, huge pinkish blooms, great for cover cropping

• Micro Clover - Great for a lawn alternative that will rarely (if ever) need to be mowed!

• Mammoth Red - A large headed red clover perfect for food or medicine as well as pollinators and nitrogen fixation

• Purple Prairie - An elongated lavender-shaped clover used for pollinators in particular. Unique in shape with bright magenta blooms!

• Sweet Clover - One of the best for cover cropping and honey production. This clover is hardy and has long pale yellow flower heads that look nothing like the puffy classic clover.

• New Zealand White - A classic white variety that handles heavy foot traffic and makes a great pasture crop.

Thanks for reading The Naturalist! Are you planning on growing or foraging clover any time soon?