White Clover

Description:

Irish Name: Seamair bhán Trifolium repens, the white clover (also known as Dutch clover), is a species of clover native to Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. It has been widely introduced worldwide as a pasture crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas of North America and New Zealand. White clovers are part of the pea family Fabaceae. Not beloved by those trying to maintain a perfect lawn, the White Clover plant is an almost hairless plant which spreads by rooting at leaf junctions. Its creamy white flower heads, 8 – 13mm long, are carried in rounded heads 2cm across and are on flower from June to September. These sweetly scented flowers become brown with age after they have given their nectar. The toothed leaves are trifoliate and the leaflets bear white V-shaped marks and translucent veins. This is a native plant and belongs to the family Fabaceae.

Notes:

And now on to Ireland! It's cold and wet here, so no butterflies, but plenty of wildflowers... White clover has been used as minor folk medicine by the Cherokee, Iroquois, Mohegan and other Native American tribes for centuries.[vague] The Cherokee, for instance, used an infusion of the plant to treat fevers as well as Bright's disease. The Delaware and Algonkian natives used the same infusion, but as a treatment for coughing and the common cold.