The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-22

illSu ACdueHlyy V NOl. AN., IL IS SLdlei
 as a curious coincidence the trefoi
 plant (shamroc and shamradh in Ara
 blc) is held sacred in Iran, and consid
 cred emblematic of the Persian Triad. It may be further observed that tht word shamrock seems a general ap
 pellation for the trefoils or three
 leaved plants, alid this being so, the
 question now arises, what particular members of the great trifolum family ! tsince We know it is not the wood sor'
 reD is that now selected as the em-
 blem of Ireland, and hence termed, pal 1 excellence, the shamrock?'
 There are no less than five claimants
 for the honor of being the true and cor | rect shamrock. These are:
 1. Trifollum minus. which in bloom bears small yellow flowers and is rec- organized as the correct emblem in the largest number of countries. The fact that this species complies most nearly with the accepted description of the true shamrock, viz, that it must grow
 in a bunch from the root, and bear | tiny graceful leaves, has much to do
 with it's popularity.
 ?, Trifolium repens, the Dutch or
 Creeping Clover. As far as long usage
 and widespread adoption go this plant
 has strong claims for recognition, and
 is worn as the correct emblem in many
 Irish counties. Its habit of growth is
 different from that of the other spe7
 cies, It does not spring from seed every year Its branches grow longer season after season. and send outside SI url,i ipJ, nf own, may in time give rise to new plants after the fashion of a straw jberry-runner. There seems little like lihood that the claims of this plant will be established, as when cultivated lux uriantly the fact that it is common clover becomes at once obvious.
 3. Trifolium pratense, the purple clo- yer. This plant is too common to re- quire any description here.
 4. Medicago lupulina, the Black Medick, or Nonsuch. This plant also bears yellow flowers and has large, down leaves that grow in clustered shoots Distinct wings or leaves grow at the base of the leaf stalks and en- compass them as if for protection.
 ,. Oxalis acetosella. the Wood Sorrel. w iille lHc ltul ul llllS ueGuIhL1Nb ul- tie plant is a trefoil yet it is not a member of the clover family. Its blos- soms fold up with the going down of the sun. The wood sorrel is not now worn anywhere as shamrock, but some authorities believe that the wood sorrel was the original shamrock, bas- ing their belief upon the fact that old writers had stated the shamrock was formerly eaten in Ireland
 Fynes Moryson, the secretary of Queen Elizabeth's Lord Deputy, Mount joy, treating of the diet and customs of the Wilde Iriscl1," says: .'They eat the herbe shmrocke, being of sharpe taste, which as they run, and are chased to and fro, they snatch out of the ditches."
 Judging from the foregoing the
 herbe" was not eaten as choice salad but as means of preserving life. What commentary on British rule is expressed in that brief paragraph!
 The wood sorrel possesses all the qualities which render it appropriate For the national feast, and is even nore beautifully three-leaved than the lover It was naturally abundant anne out at the proper season (being much earlier than the clover), shoot ng forth its delicate leaves and blos- ;oms with the earliest spring.
 On the whole I think it may be just y concluded that the weight of evi- fence goes to show that the plant first elected as the emblem of Ireland was he wood sorrel.
 This plant" says Threlkeld who 'rinted the earliest Flora we have of he country, lis worn by the people in heir hats upon the f7th of March year. y, called St. Patrick's Day it being a urrent tradition that by this three- eaved grass he automatically set orth to them the mystery of the Holy trinity. However that be, when they | yet their seamar-oge they often com | nit excess in liquor, which is not a | fight keeping of a day to the Lord.
 Tt may be asked how came the na- ional emblem to pass from the oxalis cetosella to the trifolium repens To | for this substitution is not diff cult. The cultivation which brought in he trefoil drove out the wood sorreI. 'hieh was formerly abundant while UT extensive woods existed, but after- ard disappeared with them, until the plants became the scarlet, nd it was more easy to obtain the tre- lil, introduced into the country by rtifcial cultivation"
 Some species of the oxalis found in reign countries are of a very large ze. A giant shamrock from South frica bears the botanical name of Salis lowiana The leaflets have no alks of their own, as in the clover As regards the first four species, the 'incipal difficult found in deciding eir claim is that, about St. Patrick's ay, when the plants are not full own. and consequently not in flower, is nearly impossible with some spec lens to distinguish one species from lother.
 To decide this matter an investiga- I on was made some years ago by MT. f athaniel Colgan, M, R. I. A., who ob- ined specimens of the shanrocks used a different countries. which he planted p and examined, when In flow The result of this investiga ton, ( upled with a statement made by Mr. mes Britten. editor of the Journal of ltany, is given in the following list: rrifolium minus is used in twenty Q counties and parts of counties Gin