WHITE CLOVER
Trifolium repens

Location
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.