Is a shamrock the same thing as a three or four-leaf clover?

If not where can you find a shamrock?





Thanks!!

Is a shamrock the same thing as a three or four-leaf clover?
They are the same.
Reply:Shamrock's Meaning


The druids in Ireland looked at the shamrock as a sacred plant because its leaves formed a triad. Three was a mystical number in the Celtic religion.


The shamrock was used to represent the Trinity by St. Patrick. By doing this he could show people how the church was connected. St. Patrick used this to symbolize how The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit can be separate but also part of the same entity. But this is only a myth, as it is not supported in any factual literature in Ireland.


The shamrock was a sign of rebellion of the Irish from the English. Anyone seen wearing one were to hanged.


The shamrock is used in Irish pubs around the world. It is a sign of an English speaking, warm establishment.
Reply:The Legend of St. Patrick and Irish Shamrocks





The thought of "Irish shamrocks" evokes visions of the green landscape of the Emerald Isle as surely as does St. Patrick's Day itself. But identifying a particular plant as the shamrock is a dubious practice, botanically speaking.





The term "shamrock" derives from the Irish word, seamrog, which translates to "little clover." Rather vague, considering that there are many kinds of clovers -- and even more plants that can pass as clovers to the layman





The survey, conducted at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, revealed that when the Irish wear the "shamrock," it can be any one of four plants. Three of the plants are clovers, while the fourth is a clover-like plant known as "medick." All four are in the Pea family:





1. Lesser trefoil, or hop clover (Trifolium dubium): 46%.


2. White clover (Trifolium repens): 35%.


3. Black medick (Medicago lupulina): 7%.


4. Red clover (Trifolium pratense): 4%.





What medick, the wood sorrels and the true clovers all have in common is a trifoliate leaf structure, i.e., a compound leaf with three leaflets. The number 3, of course, is significant in the Christian religion, because of the doctrine of the Trinity. Irish legend has it that the missionary, Saint Patrick demonstrated the principle behind the Trinity using a shamrock, pointing to its three leaflets united by a common stalk. But there is no way of determining with certainty the exact plant referred to in the legend. This much we can say about Irish shamrocks, however. By definition, for a clover to represent the Trinity, it would have to bear 3 (and only 3) leaves.





So for all the good luck they allegedly bring, 4-leaf clovers technically can't be considered shamrocks (not in the sense that St. Patrick made the latter famous, at least).





taken direcly from source at link
Reply:This wikipedia Leprechaun cobbled together the following answer:


Whenever I receive a dried live shamrock in the mail, it is usually the most common clover, the three-leafed, clover. The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the most common three-leaf clover, although clovers can have more than four leaflets. It is debated whether the fourth leaflet is caused genetically or environmentally.


The most leaflets ever recorded are eighteen.


According to legend, each leaflet signifies something: the first is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.
Reply:Yes they are...





four-leaf clovers are hand-picked from the White Clover plant, trifolium repens, considered to be the Original Shamrock.





Contact your local garden nursery
Reply:i think 4 leaf clovers are shamrocks bc my husband is a fire fighter and they always use that 4 leaf clover shamrock symbol for good luck and i always hear them say its a shamrock.
Reply:Depends... if you do a google image search, or a wikipedia search for "shamrock" you will get images and descriptions of "Clover."





I've always known Shamrock to be of the species "Oxalis" while Clover is "Trifolium." Oxalis is also the plant usually sold at stores (I see it at my local grocery store) around St. Pattie's Day.





Oxalis species are quite different from Trifolium species. The leaves are triangular and the flowers are very different. The leaves fold up at night.





That's what I know
Reply:It's a type of clover (3-leaf), but it doesn't grow here...





See the link below for detailed information:
Reply:Yes shamrocks are like a three leaf clover.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock