This week I noticed thousands of small white buds, like snow, sprouting up all over the yard. It occurred to me that it was White Clover (Trifolium repens). All of a sudden I started noticing it everywhere, as well as its larger and colorful relative the Red Clover (Trifolium pratense). It was then that I decided to search for recipes. I found a multitude of Red Clover dishes, honeys and syrups.
Clovers are used as nitrogen-fixing crops to improve soil fertility between crop seasons. In addition, it is used as crop for grazing cattle. Red Clovers specifically are used to treat symptoms of menopause, but also have been known to help treat other medical conditions such as cancer, whooping coughs, and bronchitis.
Clovers have a very short flowering season, so to avoid my mistake last time (picking too late) I went out right away to harvest them. Red Clovers are not as abundant as White Clovers, but are easy to find in most yards near shading areas.
Taxonomy
Common Names: Red Clover
Kingdom: Plantae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Trifolium
Species: T. pratense
Distribution: Native to Eurasia but naturalized in North America.
Quote of the Plant: To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few. –Emily Dickinson.
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