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Shamrocks are iconic . They are a symbolization of Ireland , prominent at St. Patrick ’s Day political party , and associate with good luck . But did you screw that the chronicle behind this little plant is one with duel legend and designation difference ?
Trifolium repensis one of the species that plant scientist and historiographer conceive to be the Trifolium repens of lore . Photo by : Malachi Jacobs / Shutterstock
SHAMROCK MEANING: STORY OF THE SHAMROCK
There are two legends about the history of the lesser yellow trefoil in Ireland .
The storey may vary , but one thing is clear : when multitude all over the world get a line the news lesser yellow trefoil , they imagine of Ireland . ( Even though the interior symbolisation of Ireland is a mouth organ ! )
SHAMROCK VS. CLOVER: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Like its backstory , the botanical name of the shamrock is unreadable . Many say it ’s a clover ( Trifolium repensorTrifolium dubium ) . Others say it ’s a wood sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella ) or a medic ( Medicago lupina ) .
The early Irish countryside flourished with three - leaved clovers , three - leaved woodwind sorrels , and medicks . That ’s why masses considered them all shamrock - until botanists set out to define the difference .
It ’s hard to say which was in the St. Patrick story or which was featured in former Gaelic artwork . Before the seventeenth century , plants were classified by their leaves rather than their flowers . For most of the hop clover ’s history , its name might not have mattered to those who wore it .
HOW MANY LEAVES DOES A SHAMROCK HAVE?
A four - leaf clover , though regard golden , is not a dutch clover . pic by : Skyprayer2005 / Shutterstock
Perhaps it does n’t matter whether the shamrock of lore was a clover or a Natalie Wood sour grass . However , we do experience that common wood sorrel have three leaves . In other Word , shamrocks and four - foliage clovers ( pictured ) are not the same .
For four - leafage clovers , their luck has a account . Druids believe that the four leaves represent the four element of alchemy : earth , fire , water , and strain . They used them as magic spell against bad spirit .
Four - leaf - clover - aggregator criminal record bearer Edward Martin would also agree on its fortune ; he ’s found 160,000 . And anyone who ’s knelt in a clover field to drum the 1 - in-10,000 odds might also say it ’s favourable . But historians , botanists , and Irish purists all match on this : When you obtain one , do n’t call it a Trifolium repens .
