White clover

White clover can be found throughout campus.

Description

White clover, a common weed of grassy places, with a dense head of white or pale-pink flowers. The finely toothed basal leaves are divided into three leaflets, each of which bears a triangular mark. The stem creeps close to the ground. It is noticeable from spring to fall (Newcomb 1977).

History

American Indians once used white clover leaf tea for coughs, colds, fevers, and leukorrhea. In European folk medicine, a tea made from flowers is used as a treatment for rheumatism or gout (Foster 1990).

Icelanders boil white clovers as a vegetable (Kiple 2000).

Current Medicinal Uses

White clover is not commonly used as a medicinal herb today.

Adverse Effects

White clover contains a cyanogenic (cyanide-producing) glycoside, which occasionally causes toxicity in livestock. Fatalities are rare (Lewis 1977).

References

Foster S, Duke JA. Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1990.

Kiple KF, Ornelas KC, ed. The Cambridge World History of Food. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.

Lewis WH , Elvin-Lewis MPF. Medical Botany: Plants Affecting Man’s Health. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1977. 

Newcomb L. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1977.

Disclaimer 

Information on this website is for educational purposes only. Many herbs historically used for medicine are considered too toxic to use today; some of these herbs have caused deaths. Do not ingest these herbs based on information on this website. We have not provided sufficient information for the safe medicinal use of any of these herbs, nor sufficient information for treatment of poisoning. All recreational use of these herbs is dangerous.