Red Clover  
  

 A small herb, Red Clover, Trifolium pratense, is an often overlooked, underused herb with incredible healing properties. This prolific plant, which lives close to the Earth, is frequently found growing in lawns, in fields and in wild places, mostly in the cooler parts of this country.  I have seen it in abundance in Vermont and New York, in Maine and Minnesota.  It is not an herb, however, that is happy in our hot, Central Texas climate.

 However, just this past winter I bought a 4 inch plant, transplanted it in a shady corner of my garden near my Red Raspberries and waited.  Probably because of all the rain we’ve had this year, my Red Clover is thriving and even blossoming.  It does not have the true deep purplish flower head of the finest red clover herb, but it does have many pale pink flowers and those lovely little white signs of peace on the leaves. (Let us hope that soon there will be World Peace.  Let’s ALL get out and vote in the upcoming November election).

 Red Clover makes a delicious infusion and is also good in a formula tea blend.  I make a very popular, Everywoman’s Tea that includes some Red Clover. A recently documented use of Red Clover suggests that this herb strengthens the heart muscle of menopausal aged women. Red Clover is also high in phytoestrogens, similar to soy products, so it is also beneficial to women in transition.

 The herb is also used as an Alterative, which means it is helpful in nourishing and favorably altering the condition of the blood.  Alternatives also aid the body in assimilating nutrients and eliminating metabolic waste products.  Red Clover acts as an expectorant and anti-spasmodic which can assist with coughs and colds. Other medicinal uses of this fantastic herb include drinking the tea to enhance the appetite during convalescence, using it to help with skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis and it has been known to treat cysts and tumors.

 So as you can see, Red Clover is not only a sweet, pretty little clover, but a very useful herbal medicine.  Red Clover does contain coumarins, which have some blood thinning properties.  Therefore if you are taking any blood thinning medication, or have any blood disease, or are scheduled for any type of surgical procedure, it would be contra-indicated to use Red Clover.

 I like to take Red Clover either as a tea or tincture.  Be informed that it is not the Crimson Clover that grows here in Texas.  They are related but the properties I mentioned are specific to Trifolium pratense.

 So next time you see a little clover blooming in a field, think twice about the existence of this plant and honor it’s many valuable traits.