Witnessed by: Western
Red clover (Trifolium pratense), of the Fabaceae family. Short-lived perennial with trifoliate leaves often marked by a pale crescent and rounded rose-purple flower heads; native range: meadows and pastures across Europe and Asia, widely naturalised. Globally recognized as purple clover · meadow clover · trefoil in English. The part used is flower heads. Faintly sweet and honeyed, with little bitterness.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
RED CLOVER
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- red clover
- Scientific name
- Trifolium pratense L.
- Family
- Fabaceae
Form
- Part used
- flower heads
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- sweet
Temperature
- Western
- cool, moist
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- skin · blood · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- alterative, expectorant, antispasmodic, mildly oestrogenic, lymphatic
Cautions
Contraindications: pregnancy and lactation; hormone-sensitive conditions given the oestrogenic isoflavones
Toxicity: low; the isoflavones raise theoretical concern with hormone-dependent disease
Interactions
- Western
- anticoagulants: coumarin content may add to anticoagulant effect and bleeding risk · hormonal therapy: isoflavones exert oestrogenic activity that may interfere with hormone treatment
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