There's always a lot of debate about what is, and what is not, the true shamrock. The stylised version looks a lot like an
Oxalis and I've heard people claim the shamrock is an
Oxalis. But when I visited my cousin in County Cork years ago, the shamrock she showed me was
Trifolium dubium, a little yellow clover. This, she told me, is the plant folks wear on St Patrick's Day in Rosscarbery, Skibbereen, and Cork.
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| Shamrock, Trifolium dubium |
Sorry about my scrappy photo.
Wikipedia, on the other hand, tells us the shamrock is the white clover,
Trifolium repens:
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| Trifolium repens. |
Whichever species is the true shamrock, it's a three-leaved (leafletted) clover, not a four-leaved. The luck of the Irish doesn't need four-leaved clovers, it seems. Nothing demonstrates that better than tonight's result (Ireland 15, Australia 6).
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