Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-10-11
THE SHAMROCK.
Many Hisapprehensions About the
Plant that Irishnen Love.

Many Aisapprshensions About the
Plant that Irishnen Love.
One Of the daily newspapers reporta
q prominent florist and horticultur-
ist'' rs saying, There seems to be
some strange fatality about the sham
rock. 1t is essentially the flower OF
Ireland. Nowhere else except in that
little Isle will the plant thrive, and
when transplanted, its death II only q
question of brief time. Irish 1t II. and
nothing can change it"
This statement Is romantic, but hard
ly scientific. In the first place, NO one
knows surely what plant il meant
when the shamrock is mentioned. 1t
Is Impossible to know what plant this
horticulturist meant. In one part Of
Ireland one plant is called the sham
rock, In another part another plant,
and elsewhere in the island still an
other.
The name Is perhaps most widely
given to one Of the hop-clovers, botan-
ically named Trifolium minus. This
Is the plant which is commonly ex-
ported from Ireland. especially to Lon
don for St Patrick's day, and often
to the United States, under the name
Of shamrock. 1t may perhaps lay
claim to being called the true historical
shamrock, although that honor might
also be claimed for several other
plants.
But II Is not true that 1t will no,
grow elsewhere. 1t will grow wher-
ever 1t is properly cultivated. and does
grow freely in other countries.
Beyond that, the white clover, Trifo
llum repens, Is widely understood to
be the common shamrock, and is pluck
ed and worn under that name in Ire
land and elsewhere. It grows no
where more freely and abundantly
than in the United States. and there
b nothing Enthusiastically Irish
about Il.
The black medic. Medicago lupulina
is also known as the shamrock. So is
the wood-sorrel, Oxalis acetosella.
There Ia much historical evidence in
favor Of the claim that this last plant
Is the shamrock sung by the poets. 1t
Is beautifully trifoliate. and it grows
In wild places.
1t may well be the plant referred t.
BY the horticulturist referred to, be-
cause 1t would be dlmcult to make II
thrive In any sort Of cultivation which
did not Approximate closely the con-
ditions under which it grows natural
". However, these natural conditions
are not found In Ireland alone This
oxalis grows In England as well, and
Is there locally known as the sham
rock. 1t fourishes in the United States
also. carpeting the ground for square
miles together.
The red clover has been locally call
ed the shamrock. This plant Is ex-
tremely familiar to Americans, and Is
the state flower" Of Vermont. Even
the watercress has been called the
shamrock. although its leaves are not
trifoliate.
The true shamrock" to an Irish
man. Is the plant which was known
by that name around the spot Of his
or his fathers birth. But the botanist
has as much trouble In Identifying 1t
as he has In Identifying the may
flower" Of New England-a name
which is applied in different localities
to the trailing arbutus, to the saxi-
frage. to the hepatica, and to two or
three other plants. In spite of the
fact that the trailing arbutus Is the
mayflower Of New England literature.
the word is much more commonly and
popularly applied to the saxifraee
than 1t is to the arbutus, or Epigoea
repens.-Youth's Companion.