Four Leaf Clover

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The Four Leaf Clover and the Irish Shamrock

I remember as a child searching the back yard over singing, “I’m looking over a four leafed clover”, and not understanding the words but feeling the excitement of the search. My excitement would have waned had I known the estimation of one four-leaf clover for every 10,000 plants.

The verse:

I’m looking over a four leaf clover
That I overlooked before.
One leaf is sunshine, the second is rain,
Third is the roses that grow in the lane.
No need explaining the one remaining
Is somebody I adore.
I’m looking over a four-leaf clover
That I overlooked before.

This harks to their status as a Celtic charm of good luck, faith, hope and love which was allegedly used against malevolent spirits by the Druids.

Today, the easy route to finding a four leaf clover is at your local nursery. Look-alike, Oxalis tetraphylla ‘Iron Cross’ (syn. Oxalis deppei) – Iron Cross Oxalis, is not a true clover, but a very pretty substitute for a symbolic gift (see Image 1). The verdant green leaves with a purple cross at the base beams oodles of charm, even though it’s not the true good luck charm. Native to Mexico, it grows well in our coastal climate, with dark pink blooms from late spring through summer.

The true four leaf clover is Trifolium repens, which has three, and sometimes four, or five leaflets (Image 2). Clover grows well in lawns as a companion to grass mixes as its deep roots fix nitrogen keeping lawns a lush lovely green.

The Shamrock, Trifolium dubium, Trifolium repens, and Medicago lupulina , have trifoliate leaves united by a common stalk which St. Patrick used to demonstrate the Christian symbol of the Holy Trinity.

Four leaf clovers technically can’t be considered shamrocks (not in the sense that St. Patrick made the shamrock famous), but it’s understandable that these Celtic traditional symbols have melded together for celebratory purposes.

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

 

Submitted by

Lily Ricardi
horticulturist/gardener