Evening journal., 1900-04-04
A. & L. JENNY,
21O King Street.
WHAT is THE SHAMROCK


EVEN IN IRELAND BOTANlSTS
DISPUTE AS TO WHICH PLANT
RIGHTFULLY BEARS THE FA-
NOUS NAME.
What IS the shamrock? The English
rose. the Scottish thistle, and the Welsh |
leek offer no difficulty in the matter
of Identification. but it is otherwise
with the shamrock. the identity Of
which may afford subject for dispute
among the most reverent OF patriots.
That it is a small trifoliate herb every
body knows. and If there really exists
such a plant as the four leaved sham
rock it must arise through the develop
ment of four leaflets instead of three
10 form the leaf
The contention that the plant cannot
be the true" shamrock unless 1t has
been grown In the Emerald Isle hardly
admits Of serious argument IL seems
probable. indeed, that the shamrock Of
today is not Identical with the sham
rock OF the distant past. IL may be
very like IT, but is none the less dis
tinct A pretty Irish ballad tells how
the shamrock grows In the bogs, in
the brake and the mireland," but the
emblem now In use Is obtained mainly
from localities other than these There
Is a modest white lowered plant with
leaves 81 three leaflets. Ol very acid
taste, growing i'm moist shady places
IN most parts Of the British isles. This
rs the wood sOrrcl OXalis acetOseila.
respecting which SO careful q writer
as George Bcntham says, in his Brit
Ia
the original Of the Irish shamrock, al
though that emblem is now represent
ed by Trifolium repens" Now. Tri-
folium repcns Is that extremely use
mi pastoral plant known 10 farmers
throughout the kingdom as white Glow
cr or Dutch clover. and Bentham says
of it In Ireland believed to be OF
comparatively recent introduction. al
though Il is now taken as the national
emblem i'm substitution OF Oxalis ace
tosella which is asserted by some
writer's 10 have been the original sham
rock.
Il needs. indeed but a brief inspec-
tion OF the bunches % green that
are sold In the streets of the cities OF
Ireland on St. patrick's Day 60 ascer-
tain that they consist not OF wood sor-
rel, but OF one OF the leguminous herbs
Of which white clover Is an excellent
type. There are many people in Ire
land who claim to possess the faculty
Of recognizing the true shamrock.
Some seven or eight years ago spcci-
mems gathered by these experts were
obtained from eleven Irish counties.
and were planted and allowed to flower.
whereby their identity might be cstah-
lshed beyond a shadow of doubt In
tercstingly enough. two distinct species
revealed themselves. The majority of
the plants proved to be Trifolium
minus, a small clover known to farm
crs as the yellow suckling: the others
turned out to be Trifolium repens The
latter plant has a white head OF fow-
ors whereas the former has a yellow
head Of hOwers and is much the small.
er plant OF the two
In the experiment referred to. which
was described I'm the Irish Naturalist
az the time, Cork, Derry Wicklow .Wex
ford, Queens County and Glare declare,
for yellow sucking. while Antrim
Mayo and RoscommOn were I'M favor o
white Dutch Armagh and Carlow di
vided their votes. for two specimen
from each county turned out TO be, tn
one Tmfollum minus and the othe
Trifolium repens The seeds OF bot
species are sown largely in this coun
try every year, and they produce nu
tritious pasture plants. The white cloy
er differs from the yellow suckling /
its more creeping habit, on which a,
count II is valuable because &c spread
out and invades bare patches in pa,
ture land.
The famous old pastures OF Englau
and Ireland contain plenty OF tn
clover from the presence OF which !
le ~ their high grazing quality
derived. II we put sentiment ON oi
side, il Is quite certain that either
the species named will serve as
adequate representative Of "the swc
little plant" though for choice the yi
low sucking may be preferred as d
smaller and rather more elegant tn
indeed appears 10 be the true shal
rock. the howerless shoots OF viii
there should be no difficulty in fndi
in our meadows and pastures az mi
March. London Telegraph.