17/03/2016

St Patrick’s Day!

Shamrock is the national plant of Ireland, however did you know that there is no such plant as the ‘shamrock’?

It is widely believed that the shamrock is in fact white clover Trifolium repens found across the country and the UK (Academic American Encyclopedia, Vol. 17, 1990). It is part of the legume family and fixes nitrogen in the soil, supplies food for a variety of insect species such as the common blue butterflies Polyommatus Icarus and can grow in variety of habitats such as grassland, road verges and woodland (WT, 2016).

Regardless of the real plants name ‘shamrock’ was used by St Patrick as a symbol of the holy trinity and is now seen by the world that the Irish are in town!

Happy St Patrick’s day to all my Irish family and friends – drink, be merry and enjoy!

References:

WT, (2016), White Clover, online at www.wildlifetrust.org.uk, accessed on 17/03/2016