Shamrock

Look out for shamrock, our national emblem. Plants with three usually stalkless leaflets are used. Lesser trefoil also known as yellow clover is grown commercially as shamrock. It has wiry, very slightly hairy stems and the middle leaflet is shortly stalked. It resembles black medick, but lesser trefoil does not have a tooth in the notch at the top of the leaflets. Clusters of up to twenty pale yellow flowers appear in May and after fertilisation droop like tiny bunches of bananas. Other plants that have been used as shamrock are red and white clover, black medick and wood sorrel. As you wear shamrock on St Patrick’s Day, remember it is part of our native Irish biodiversity.