Shamrock Shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name "shamrock" comes from Irish , which is the diminutive of the Irish word for plant () and means simply "little plant" or "young plant". "Shamrock" usually refers to either the species (lesser clover, Irish: ) or (white clover, Irish: ). However, other three-leaved plants—such as , , and —are sometimes called shamrocks. The shamrock was traditionally used for its medicinal properties and was a popular motif
Shamrock species could be identified. The results of both surveys were very similar, showing that the conception of the shamrock in Ireland had changed little in almost a hundred years. The results of the surveys are shown in the table below. The results show that there is no one "true" species of shamrock, but that "Trifolium dubium" (Lesser clover) is considered to be the shamrock by roughly half of Irish people, and "Trifolium repens" (White clover) by another third, with the remaining fifth split between "Trifolium pratense", "Medicago lupulina", "Oxalis acetosella" and various other species of "Trifolium" and "Oxalis". None of