# Red clover (Trifolium pratense) *Trefoil, purple clover, meadow trefoil, honeysuckles; *Trifolium pratense* L.* **Known today as.** *Trifolium pratense*, of the family Leguminosae, a short-lived perennial of meadows across Britain, Europe, and northern and central Asia, with leaves of three leaflets and fragrant red to purple flowers in dense round heads; Grieve calls it an excellent mowing crop, though the bees work it less than the white clover. The flowering heads are the drug. The modern trials use preparations of its isoflavones, which one of the reviews calls phytoestrogenic. Kind: Plant > **Caution.** None of the sources read for this entry reports on its safety, and no European monograph sets it out. ## What was it used for? In the old herbals an application for inflammations and a cough remedy; now a supplement for menopausal hot flushes. Grieve records the fluid extract as an alterative and antispasmodic, an infusion for bronchial and whooping cough, and fomentations and poultices of the herb applied to cancerous growths. ## What does modern science say? No European monograph covers it, and the trials are of its isoflavone extracts, against placebo, for hot flushes. A 2021 meta-analysis of eight trials found a statistically significant fall of about 1.7 hot flushes a day, but called for further well-designed studies to confirm it; a 2026 meta-analysis of nine trials, most at low risk of bias, found a small-to-moderate reduction in their frequency and called it “modest but statistically significant.” A 2022 meta-analysis in postmenopausal women found a small fall in total cholesterol and a rise in HDL cholesterol. ## Pharmacognosy and toxicology - **isoflavones**: the constituents of the modern preparations, which one review calls phytoestrogenic - **biochanin A**: a higher proportion of which marked the more effective formulations in one meta-analysis **Mechanism.** Not established in the sources read for this entry. **Standing.** There is no European monograph. Meta-analyses (2021, 2026) find a modest reduction in hot flushes against placebo. ## What lore surrounds it? Thiselton-Dyer records that among the Virginian tribes red clover “was supposed to have sprung from and to be coloured by the blood of the red men slain in battle,” and sets the story beside the English legend of the lilies of the valley that sprang from the blood of St. Leonard after his three-day fight with “a mighty worm, or ‘fire-drake,’” in St. Leonard’s Forest, Sussex. ## What did the older authorities say? **Culpeper, *The Complete Herbal* (1653).** Under “Meadow Trefoil, or Honeysuckles,” which he says are so well known, white and red, that he need not describe them, Culpeper gives the plant to Mercury. The juice dropped in the eyes was “a familiar medicine, with many country people, to take away the pin and web”; country people also drank the juice against the bite of an adder and laid the boiled herb on the wound, and a poultice of the herb eased inflammations. ## Sources - Grieve, M. *A Modern Herbal*, “Clover, Red.” As published on botanical.com. - Culpeper, N. *The Complete Herbal*, “MEADOW TREFOIL, OR HONEYSUCKLES.” Project Gutenberg, 49513. - Thiselton-Dyer, T. F. (1889). *The Folk-lore of Plants*, ch. 1, “Plant Life”. Project Gutenberg, 10118. - Kanadys W, et al. (2021). Evaluation of Clinical Meaningfulness of Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.) Extract to Relieve Hot Flushes and Menopausal Symptoms in Peri- and Post-Menopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. *Nutrients*. PMID 33920485. - Jiang W & Wu K (2026). The effectiveness of red clover on hot-flash in menopausal women: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis. *European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology*. PMID 42269521. - Błaszczuk A, et al. (2022). Role of Phytoestrogen-Rich Bioactive Substances (Linum usitatissimum L., Glycine max L., Trifolium pratense L.) in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. *Nutrients*. PMID 35745197. - Kanadys W, et al. (2021). Evaluation of Clinical Meaningfulness of Red Clover (Trifolium pratense L.) Extract to Relieve Hot Flushes and Menopausal Symptoms in Peri- and Post-Menopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. *Nutrients*. PMID 33920485. - Jiang W & Wu K (2026). The effectiveness of red clover on hot-flash in menopausal women: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and meta-analysis. *European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology*. PMID 42269521. - Błaszczuk A, et al. (2022). Role of Phytoestrogen-Rich Bioactive Substances (Linum usitatissimum L., Glycine max L., Trifolium pratense L.) in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. *Nutrients*. PMID 35745197. --- *Red clover.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-17. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/red-clover Historical description, not medical advice.