Clover is a highly nutritious fodder plant containing useful protein substances. The plant is cultivated mainly in two forms: yellow and white. In our country, white sweet clover, which will be discussed in this article, has become widespread.
White sweet clover is a biennial plant that belongs to the legume family. It forms powerful bushes, the height of which can be up to one and a half to two meters. A plant with flexible branches and trifoliate leaves contains small flowers collected in narrow brushes. White sweet clover has a taproot that can penetrate up to two meters deep. Since the medicinal plant is a high-protein crop, it can be used in the preparation of hay, grass meal, haylage and silage. Being a valuable plant, sweet clover can play an important role in creating a food base and providing bee colonies with nectar and pollen.
Clover is a drought-resistant and frost-resistant crop. Since the root system of white sweet clover has the ability to absorb various substances from the soil from not the most soluble compounds, the plant cangrow on any type of soil, including light sandy and sandy, on which the cultivation of other grasses of the legume family is impossible. The area of distribution of the plant includes the European part of Russia, the meadows of Siberia, the Caucasus. Dry wastelands, railroad embankments, roadsides and field edges are also home to white sweet clover.
Reproduction of white sweet clover occurs with the help of seeds. Mass flowering of the plant falls on the period before the onset of frost. White sweet clover begins to bloom when the acacia and gardens have faded. White sweet clover plays an important role in the life of bee colonies. The moment of the main honey collection contributes to the best use of the plant. Sweet clover honey has a high taste characteristics. It is considered a reference honey, which has a light color, delicate pleasant taste and aroma reminiscent of vanilla. In addition, sweet clover honey, containing up to 60 medicinal elements, increases the hemoglobin content in the blood and improves the efficiency of the digestive organs.
Clover, whose photo and properties prove the value of this plant, plays an important role in the treatment of numerous diseases and is actively used in traditional medicine. However, the plant is poisonous, which requires special attention to its use and application. Medicines, such as decoctions and ointments, created from white sweet clover based on its medicinal properties, have analgesic, expectorant and wound-healing qualities. Plant extracts are used inmedicine in different countries. So, in Poland, white sweet clover grass is used for heart pain, insomnia, hemorrhoids and headaches. In India, a valuable plant is used as an aromatic, hemostatic, emollient and carminative. And in folk medicine in Bulgaria, white sweet clover is used as a sedative used for nervous attacks.
