here's a bit of fun trivia that will allow you to become the most annoying person in your social circle for the month of march: no one can agree on what a shamrock is.
i think most people have a vague sense that a shamrock is a clover. this is also the most common traditional identification. however, most images of shamrocks are actually of wood sorrel. there is some debate about whether the clover or wood sorrel is the Real Original shamrock, but the point remains that people generally treat them as the same thing.
"this is a minor mistake," you may think. "they are both small and have three leaves. they must be closely related." they are not. they are not only in different genuses, not only in different families, but in different orders. their nearest shared clade is the fabids, which isn't saying much as that clade contains over 50,000 species. clover and wood sorrel are as related to each other as they are to oak trees, pitcher plants, kudzu, pumpkins, peanuts, blackberries, and poinsettia.
also, fun fact, wood sorrels are edible and delicious with a lemony flavor (disclaimer: do not eat if you have kidney problems. always make sure you can 100% identify a plant before you eat it) while clover is not edible and tastes like grass. trust me if you are snacking on them you learn the difference real fast.
in this google image search for "shamrock," the red squares are all wood sorrel, and the single yellow square is an actual clover.
so below, for all your know-it-all needs, is a crash course in recognizing wood sorrel:
the best identifier i find is that while both tend to have three leaves, but the leaves of clover are round or flat at the ends (sometimes with a tiiiiny little notch), while the leaves of wood sorrel are heart-shaped. many clovers also have a white ring imprinted on their leaves, like you can see in the google image result above. not all do, so if it's absent, that doesn't guarantee it's wood sorrel, but if it's present, it's definitely clover.
here's a webpage about the cultural significance of "shamrocks"
image 1 is wood sorrel
image 2 is clover
image 3 is wood sorrel again
okay your turn, pop quiz with more pics i found on google images. clover or wood sorrel?
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2.
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answers:
if you're seeing a whole plant, their flowers also look very different, although this doesn't show up in logos
1 wood sorrel
2 clover
3 clover
4 wood sorrel
5 clover
6 clover
7 wood sorrel
8 clover
9 clover (a less popular species)
10 wood sorrel
clover flowers look like pompoms with lots of tiny florets
wood sorrel flowers are simple, classic little flowers with five petals. it's like how a five-year-old draws a flower. you look at it and go "yep that's a flower."
anyway have fun squinting at every shamrock logo from now on!
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