For anyone who has ever walked through a country meadow, there are few sights as lovely as waving green grass peppered with dainty balls of red clover. Like little drops of honey, red clover charms and delights bees and butterflies who feed off its nectar, as well as grazing cows who benefit from its rich nutrients. It’s such a beloved part of idyllic country landscapes that Vermont named red clover its official state flower in 1894. Our herbalists love Trifolium pratense for its traditional use as an alterative to support skin health in our organic Red Clover tea.*
Charming, nourishing, and restorative, red clover is a perennial of the pea family, which farmers often use as cover crops to fix nitrogen to the soil and prevent erosion. Prized for its fluffy pink blossoms but named for its three oval leaves, red clover takes its genus name from Latin—Trifolium, or “three leaves,” and pratense, meaning, “growing in meadows.” Throughout the ages, these very leaves have come to represent the triad goddesses of Greek and Roman mythology and the uncommon four-leaf clover as Christian symbol of Christ’s cross. Today, they symbolize happiness and good luck. Red clover grows in fields and meadows and prefers full sunlight and well-drained, loamy soils, but its hardy constitution allows it to grow in a variety of soil and climatic conditions. Once fully mature, red clover blossoms reach just over an inch in diameter and the entire plant between one to two feet high.
Small in stature but mighty in spirit, red clover has become a beloved herb around the world. Both the Chinese and Russians have traditionally used it to support respiratory health,* and Europeans for digestive health.* In Native American herbalism, clover has helped address other areas of the body, from supporting women’s health to soothing skin.* Red clover is thought to improve tissue circulation, which in turn, facilitates the drainage of the lymphatic system, one of the body and skin’s primary systems of detoxification, helping you glow from the inside out.*
Some of our favorite red clover comes from the sunlit meadows of Albania, where harvesters collect it sustainably in the wild by hand. Unlike other teas that incorporate the stems and leaves, ours features the fluffy pink blossoms of the clover, as are customarily used in Traditional European Herbalism. Our collectors pick the blossoms at their peak over the summer months, then dry and cut them for this soothing and restorative tea. Gently fruity and floral, each sip is as transporting as a summer day in the country, whether you serve it piping hot or brewed hot and chilled over ice.
If you have not yet introduced red clover to your self-care routine, we encourage you to give it a try. Skin health is about creating a dynamic relationship with your entire body. Click here to learn more about the best ways to use our teas to support healthy skin and find out which teas are right for you.
NOTE: Consult your healthcare practitioner prior to use if you are currently taking medications for hormone replacement therapy, or if you are pregnant and breastfeeding.