Red Clover Blossom

Waving from the bean family Fabaceae, red clover sits resides happily with its fellows like peas and other legumes. This wildflower is favorite among the cattle and other animals that like to graze.

This herbaceous flowering perennial is a short-lived plant that can be 10 to 30 inches tall. The trifoliate green-colored leaves bear a pale crescent on half of their broad lamina. Its dense flowers depict a darker shade of pink to attract the pollinating insects. Red clover has a highly adaptive deep taproot system that helps in the trying times like that of drought.

Red clover blossom was historically used to cater to a diverse variety of diseases like gout, asthma, whooping cough, and even cancer. Recently, the extracts of red clover have been added to the supplements that aid in attenuating premenopausal symptoms. The isoflavone extract of red clover blossom is also quite supportive when it comes to lowering the levels of LDL and triglycerides. It can be used as an adjunct therapy to potentiate the treatment of osteoporosis.

Red clover blossom is women-friendly because it is brimmed with phytoestrogens like isoflavones, daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and biochanin-A. These phytoestrogens help to treat various women-associated disorders.

Honest-to-goodness, red clover is a bit of a demanding diva. It is quite picky when it comes to soil pH, sunlight exposure, and depth of sowing. Red clover can be started in spring when all the dangers of frost have departed. It looks for well-drained loamy soil that has a bit acidic pH. Also, the soil should be raked to a fine texture to prevent the existence of weed. Soil having pH 6.2 or higher must not be opted for germination.

The red clover seeds must be provided with shade and warm soil with plenty of water for the induction of germination. It is made sure that the seeds must not be sown too deeply because they require air and light to germinate. 

Red clover shows a relatively fast growth rate than other legumes from its family. It germinates within 7 to 10 days. Within no time, the plant starts giving out true leaves.

The slow-growing mammoth does not bloom whereas its other varieties bloom throughout June till August. During this time bumblebees arrive at the dark pink flowers to bring about pollination. After the pollination, indehiscent pod forms bearing seeds.

These seeds are dispersed through the wind with the aid of wings.

Red clover blossoms can be harvested from June till August in the morning when there are still some droplets of dew. This helps in keeping the color of the flowers intact even after drying.

Red clover blossoms are either plucked or their stalks are snipped off of the plant.

Red clover blossoms are able to be dried in a dehydrator or a well-ventilated room, provided the fact that direct sunlight does not reach them during the process.

Red clover blossoms are readily used in different medicinal preparations

• Tincture - Infuse fresh or dried red clovers in grain alcohol for 4 to 6 weeks. Strain the liquid and place it in a dark and dry place.
• Tea - Dried red clover blossoms are steeped in hot boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes to make red clover tea.
• Decoction - fresh red clover blossoms are simmered in water until ¾ of the quantity of water is left. After straining, the decoction is saved for later use in an airtight bottle.
• Salve - Dried red clover blossoms are infused with coconut oil (or olive oil) and heated with melted beeswax to form salve.
• Syrup - red clover blossoms are merged with sugar solution and simmered until the solution thickens.
• Infused oil - Dried red clover blossoms are simmered in a carrier oil of choice for 3 to 4 hours to form red clover blossoms infused oil.

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