Nature Walk: White Clover

Welcome to the Nature Walk blog series where commonly found medicinal herbs are briefly highlighted. Each featured plant is selected based on the Woven in Nature Healing Traditions team's outdoor walks. Today we are highlighting White Clover.

Often thought of as a common weed or ground cover, White Clover has much more to offer than meets the eye (or general perception).

White Clover is an analgesic/pain relieving, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, expectorant, and blood-cleansing herb. These properties make the plant worth considering as an addition to your home apothecary or as an ingredient in your next herbal remedy.

The expectorant qualities are ideal for respiratory health, as it clears the airways of the respiratory system and helps thins mucus. Serving this herb as a warm tea, followed by a smidge of high quality honey, such as Buckwheat or MGO-rated Manuka varieties is one method to draw this clover's benefits.

White Clover's properties are ideal for skin health as well. It's anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-microbial characteristics aide in healing minor wounds and the overall reduction of pain and swelling. Salves made with an herbal infusion of this plant enable the healing properties to be applied to the skin with ease. Dual benefits come in the carrier oil that is used. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is typically an accessible and effective choice for infusions, however it doesn't stand alone, Coconut, Sweet Almond, Grapeseed, and Black Seed oils, among others, have added benefits that they bring to the table as well.

When working with White Clover, an alternate application method is using poultices (or compresses). This method is can be exercised by crushing/grounding the fresh herb, applying to a clean cloth, and gently moistening the compress with fresh or distilled water. The compress should firmly envelop the area requiring healing, and be changed out periodically for a freshness and sanitization purposes . This method also works well with dried herbs.

Similar to its relative, Red Clover, White Clover is a blood-cleanser; bitters, tinctures and again, teas come to mind as options for use. They enter the body system swiftly allowing the medicinal qualities to work their wonders. This plant is surprisingly versatile!

For harvesting, White Clovers are best collected young during the early spring, however they are also prevalent in the autumn. While selecting clovers to harvest, a good rule of thumb for any wild-crafting activities is to avoid areas near road-ways (at least 6 feet away) or sites that have been treated by chemicals. To ensure the best healing benefit, avoid using White Clovers whose flower heads have begun to brown, as the medicinal qualities are depleting. Also, when it comes to this particular herb, focus on the above ground parts only (no roots), and always wash well.

With several health benefits, it's understandable why woodland animals, such as wild rabbits enjoy White Clovers as part of their diet. The plant is not only plentiful in many areas throughout North America, it is also packed full of medicinal qualities. The next time you encounter a patch of White Clovers, you may want to consider the benefits, it's more than just a "weed".