Clover
Melilotus (Melilotus Latin) is a herbaceous plant of the legume family. Its Russian name is associated with the word "ground", which was once called gout.The Latin name is derived from the Greek words “chalk” and “lotus”, meaning honey and grass.
The plant is also called bottom grass, barkun, Donets, Vargun, Bunny chill, Rumpberry, sticky, burkun, wild hops, stables, sweet clover and wild buckwheat.
Names in other languages:
- English Sweet clover, field melilot;
- him Honigklee.
Appearance
The height of the clover is up to two meters. The plant has a branched stem, taproot, trifoliate leaves with stipules, white or yellow pendant long flowers. The plant blooms in summer - from June to August.
Kinds
Many species of this plant are known - notched, Sicilian, Italian, fragrant, Volga, rough, beautiful, Polish and others.
Traditional and official medicine uses only two types of clover, which we will consider.
White clover
An annual or biennial plant with a direct stem up to 170 cm in height. Sheet plate is divided into three parts. Tiny white flowers are collected in elongated brush. Flowering occurs in the summer, lasting one month. Its gentle pleasant aroma is similar to coumarin, but not close. This species is the best honey plant.
Melilotus officinalis
Biennial plant up to one and a half meters in height. Stem naked, trifoliate leaves. The flowers are yellow, very small in long racemes. The aroma is strong, coumarin. It blooms all summer and first month of autumn.
Where grows
Find clover can be in the territory of Asia and Europe. The plant is widely settled around the planet. It is often found in the meadows, in the forest-steppe zone, in the beams, on the edges and in the steppes.
Stocking
- Harvesting is carried out during the flowering period.
- The tops of the clover are cut with a knife, receiving raw materials up to thirty centimeters long. Thick and too rough stems, as well as plants on the roadsides do not cut. Collection of clover is carried out only in dry weather, as a wet plant deteriorates quickly.
- After cutting, the plant is immediately sent to dry. It is laid out on the street, hidden under a canopy, or in the attic with excellent ventilation (it is important that the temperature was up to +40 degrees).
- Lay out on the fabric or on paper, the raw material should be a layer of up to seven centimeters. Periodically turn it over.
- When the stems break easily, drying is completed. It is necessary to ensure that the raw material does not dry out, otherwise the leaves will crumble.
- Store dried sweet clover can be up to two years.
Special features
- Dried sweet clover has a bitter-salty taste.
- The smell of dried plants resembles fresh hay (it is called coumarin).
- Melilot is used to improve the soil and restore the fertility of the earth.
- The plant is also medicinal, melliferous and fodder.
Nutritional value and calorie
Per 100 g of clover:
Squirrels | Fat | Carbohydrates | Calorie content |
0.8 gr. | 0 gr. | 81.5 grams | 309 kcal |
Chemical composition
The clover contains:
- glycosides (one of them is coumarin, providing the aroma of the plant);
- essential oil;
- tsimarin;
- protein;
- acids - coumaric, ascorbic, melilotovaya;
- fat-like substances;
- purine derivatives;
- meilotol;
- flavonoids;
- tannins;
- Sahara;
- choline;
- slime.
When the tributary starts to rot, it produces dicuminum.
Beneficial features
The plant has the following effect:
- expectorant;
- lactogonic;
- painkillers;
- antiseptic;
- laxative;
- promotes wound healing;
- helps with fever.
Contraindications
The plant is not used when:
- pregnancy;
- kidney disease;
- problems with blood clotting;
- internal bleeding.
When applying clover, remember about the poisonousness of the plant - never exceed the dosage and better use as part of the collection.
Excessive and too long use of clover can cause CNS depression, drowsiness, dizziness, liver damage, headaches and other problems. Animals that use rotten hay containing clover are poisoned by dicmarin.
Honey
Bees collect honey from the clover all summer.
The color of honey is determined by the type of plant and the soil on which it grew. It is from white to amber, sometimes with a golden and greenish tint.
Sweet honey smells very nice.
Yellow sweet clover gives honey, the taste of which is very soft, and the smell is delicate.
White clover gives honey with a sharper, slightly bitter taste and smell with hints of vanilla.
Benefit
Honey obtained from sweet clover is very useful. It contains fructose (40 percent) and glucose (about 37 percent).
Applying sweet clover outwardly and inwardly, he notes useful properties:
- Increases energy levels and body tone.
- It has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in diseases of the respiratory tract.
- Improves the condition of people with hypertension and heart disease.
- It has a diuretic effect.
- Eliminates dizziness as well as headaches.
- Stimulates lactation.
During long-term storage, the honey from the clover becomes a viscous mass of white or yellow color.
Calorie content
Caloric content of 100 grams of honey from the clover - 314 kcal.
Application
In cooking
- For food, only sweet clover is used, because white sweet clover is referred to as poisonous plants.
- There are many recipes that include sweet clover, but you should not abuse the addition of this aromatic herb (there is a risk of headache and nausea).
- Fresh young clover is added to salads, okroshka, soups.
- Crushed dried plant is used as a seasoning, adding to sauces, drinks, snacks and second courses.
Okroshka with clover
In half a liter of bread kvass, you need to put sliced 70 grams of boiled beef, 50 grams of boiled potatoes, boiled egg and 50 grams of fresh cucumber. Melnikia leaflets (20 grams), as well as 25 grams of onion, chop and rub with mustard, sugar and salt, add to okroshka. To taste, season with sour cream.
Root garnish
Roots of a young plant are well washed and, having salted, fry with the use of vegetable oil. This side dish can be served with fish or meat.
Meat stew with a clover
Cut 250 grams of meat into pieces and fry a little. Put it in a goose and add 50 grams of chopped onion, 50 grams of coarsely grated carrots, 200 grams of chopped potatoes and 20 grams of sweet clover leaves. You also need to put pepper, bay leaf and dill seed in the roaster, then pour all the water over to cover the ingredients. Simmer the dish until cooked over low heat.
Drink with sweet clover
Bring a liter of water to a boil, put in it 10 grams of inflorescences and clover leaves, add sugar to taste and about 100 ml of cherry or cranberry juice. When the drink boils, remove from heat and cool.
Watch the following video from the TV show "1000 and 1 Scheherazade spice". From it you will learn a lot about the plant clover yellow.
In medicine
- For medical purposes, both yellow and white clover is used. Apply both leaves, and stalks, and flowers of these plants.
- Since the white clover is poisonous, only experienced healers are at risk of using it.
- The plant has coumarin, which has a depressant effect on the nervous system. This substance prevents seizures, increases the number of white blood cells.
- The clover is used for migraines, insomnia, hysteria, headaches, menopause, flatulence, bronchitis and other problems.
- Herbaceous part of clover include in the charges, which make poultices. Also, the plant is a component of a green patch that helps against calluses and abscesses.
- Having infused a dry sweet clover (2 small spoons) filled with boiling water (half a glass) for four hours, it is used to stimulate lactation, divided into three portions.
- Broths, as well as infusions made from clover, are effective for otitis, mastitis, purulent wounds, boils.
- Homeopaths use clover in the preparation of drugs against psychosis.
- Traditional medicine considers the plant to be an excellent laxative, as well as prescribing a tributary for hypertension, pain, lung diseases, gynecological pathologies, bloating and other problems.
- From the leaves of clover is made the drug meliocin, which has a stimulating effect.
Infusion for headache, hypertension, insomnia
Insist in a closed container filled with boiled cold water (two cups) clover grass (take two tea-spoons). Take the infusion two or three times a day for half a glass.
For baths and compresses
Prepare the infusion by placing a closed container with 2 tables. spoons of clover and 500 ml of water on a hot plate.
Migraine Tincture
Fill the grass with 40% alcohol with alcohol (1 to 10) and put in a dark place for 10-15 days. Having processed, tincture can be stored in the conditions of the refrigerator up to two years. You can use it either inward or outwardly - fifteen drops.
Poultice
They can be prepared from flowers, steamed with boiling water, or from crushed leaves.
With hemorrhoids
Take two parts of a colorful and lush carnation, as well as one part of a mountaineer, tributary and cinquefoil goose. Grinding everything in a mortar or coffee grinder, take 20 grams of the obtained powder and rub with 80 grams of fat or fat (pre-melt it). Hold this mixture for four hours in a water bath, and then strain while still hot.
At home
Donnik is used as:
- perfume in tobacco products;
- soap flavoring;
- forage plant;
- honey plant;
- soil improvement agent.
Sorta
The plant is considered a valuable crop and is grown in different climatic zones. Donnik is represented by many varieties, which constantly appears more and more. White clover is represented by the varieties Volzhanin, Diomed, Rybinsky, Volga, steppe and others. Medicinal tributary is represented by varieties Lazar, Siberian, Golden, Alsheevsky and others.
Growing up
Melilot seeds germinate at a temperature of + 2 + 4 degrees. Only ripe seeds or slightly immature grow well. Before sowing, they are scarified. In the first year, the clover develops the root and the green part. Flowering plant begins a year after planting.
Due to the presence of a strong root system, the tributary is not picky about the soil. Also, the plant is resistant to drought, so it does not need to constantly water. The acidic ground and excess moisture only have a bad effect on the tributary.
Oh, we have him at the dacha a dime a dozen. And I did not know that the tributary is so useful.