What Is a Shamrock? Clearing Up the Clover Confusion

"Shamrock" is a common name, not a botanical one. It usually refers to:

• White clover (Trifolium repens) – the classic three-leaf clover of lawns.
• Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) – also three-lobed leaves, often sold as "shamrock plant" for St. Patrick's Day.
• Four-leaf clover – a rare mutation of white clover, considered lucky.
• 'Shamrock' inkberry holly (Ilex glabra 'Shamrock') – a compact evergreen shrub.

Botanists use Latin binomials to avoid this confusion. If you have a potted "shamrock" with heart-shaped leaves that fold at night, it's almost certainly Oxalis (see article 35799). If it's a lawn weed with three leaflets and white flowers, it's Trifolium.

Search "shamrock plant" online to see the many plants sold under this name.