Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) has a strong scent of vanilla that fills the air in summertime.
Melilotus alba, M. officinalis
EDIBLE flowers, seed, stalk
Sweet clover’s heady notes of vanilla and honey waft through the air in summer. You can capture its fragrant summer essence for baking, beverages, and for use in the herbal apothecary.
Sweet clover is a tall, biennial, herbaceous plant that grows up to 6 feet tall. Its dull green stalk is tall and erect, branched, and smooth. The trifoliate, oblong leaves are alternate along the stem, and the small flower clusters are white or yellow. The entire plant smells distinctly of mowed grass and vanilla.
Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) has a strong scent of vanilla that fills the air in summertime.
Sweet clover is a common cover crop used to fix nitrogen in the soil, but it is also found in other areas of poor soil quality, such as in ditches and disturbed areas. It grows abundantly and escapes from cultivation enough to qualify it in some areas as a noxious weed. Sweet clover blooms in late June through early August and goes to seed shortly thereafter.
Yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis) can be used similarly. Just use your nose to gauge the strength of the vanilla scent.
Sweet clover should be gathered while it is in full bloom on a dry, sunny day. The blossoms should be processed immediately or dried for later use. The plant’s stalk can be cut down entirely and then hung to dry in a cool, dry place with good ventilation so it does not mold. The seeds of the dried plant can be gathered and collected for a culinary spice.
The plant’s heady vanilla aroma is of most use to you in the kitchen. Its dried seeds can be crushed and used to add vanilla scent to baking projects or herbal beverages like a foraged chai.
The unwilted blossoms of sweet clover can be transformed into a sweet-smelling hydrosol (or floral water) that is similar to rosewater but with strong vanilla notes. Dry blossoms can also be used to make a hydrosol, as long as they are mold free. The hydrosol can be used in a variety of cooking projects including flavoring shortbreads, biscotti, and cakes, and for poaching fruits. The hydrosol can be sweetened and converted into a simple syrup used to flavor ice cream or sweeten plain yogurt, sorbet, panna cotta, and meringue.
The sweet clover hydrosol also has a use in the herbal apothecary, as its uplifting scent is a remedy to dispel melancholy. The spray can be misted on the skin and face as a cooling facial mist. Dried bundles of sweet clover can be added to your home’s decor as attractive dried flower arrangements, which will also give off sweet clover’s summer aroma well into the winter.
Sweet clover is a beneficial plant that improves poor-quality soil, but because it is a voracious spreader, it is qualified as a noxious weed by many native plant folk. Gathering the plant by the armful will do little to impact future harvests or the plant’s sustainability.
Because of its chemical compounds that include the presence of coumadin, those on pharmaceutical blood thinners should avoid working with and consuming sweet clover.