Trifolium spp.
Clover is a legume. Red and white clover are both familiar in Northeast fields and lawns, where the plant’s low growth can hide how important its roots are to the surrounding soil.1
Red clover flowers are mildly sweet and sometimes infused, but UMN Extension advises moderation because the flowers are not easily digested.2
Like other legumes, clover hosts nitrogen-fixing bacteria in root nodules. That plant-microbe relationship is why clover often appears in soil-building cover-crop mixtures.1
Footnotes
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University of Maine Cooperative Extension, “Plant Families for Gardeners,” 2021. ↩ ↩2
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University of Minnesota Extension, “Edible Flowers,” accessed July 17, 2026. ↩