Oxalis triangularis| Three-leaf Clover, False Shamrock

Oxalidaceae (Wood Sorrel Family) Pronounced Ox-uhl-i-day-see-eye

Pronounced Ox-uhl-uhs  Try-lang-gyoo-air-is

The word shamrock is Irish for “little clover.”

There are two types of False Shamrock. The one I have has green leaves and small white-colored blooms; the other has deep purple leaves and small pinkish blooms. The flowers have five petals and contrast the leaves nicely. Each leaf is shaped like a heart, but is also two triangles much like butterfly wings. Trifoliate leaves are a compound leaf with three leaflets.

The Shamrock plant is associated with the Irish around St. Patrick's Day. I have Irish in me, so when I see a three-leaf clover, it makes me smile. My Great-Grandpa Finlay came from Ireland just north of Belfast. This Shamrock that I grow is now sold in stores and marketed as the special Irish plant. Back in my younger days, I never saw them in the stores. I like the "three-leaf" clovers because they remind me of the Trinity, as opposed to the "lucky four-leaf" clovers because I do not believe in luck. If God is in control, there is no such thing as luck.

Shamrocks are commonly grown indoors as they are not Winter hardy here in Missouri, although I have grown them in a pot outdoors during garden season and then brought them inside. I love the way they look in a pot in the middle of my garden bed. The plants are Winter hardy in zones 8 through 11. As a houseplant, they require good light source, so I use grow lights.

The plant performs best when it is  pot-bound. The plant wakes up in the morning and goes to sleep at night in that the leaves and trumpet-shaped flowers sitting above the leaves open and close like an umbrella. This process is called "photonasty" (aka response to light). As they grow toward the light, they will get tangled and can be gently separated.  Also, the pot can be turned in a circle to encourage it to grow a different direction toward the light.

To propagate, divide the bulbs.

The plant is toxic if ingested by pets. For the same reasons, deer and rabbit leave it alone.

Other varieties:

Oxalis stricta | Common Yellow Wood Sorrel also has three leaves and is sometimes called a Shamrock. It is considered a weed and sometimes creeps into my garden beds. It is an annual, so if allowed to bloom, it will drop seeds that will bloom the next year. It is best to weed it before it blooms. Each leaf is divided into three heart-shaped leaflets similar to a clover leaf. The yellow flowers have five petals.

Trifolium repens | White clover also grows in lawns and is what I have always thought of as clover. I have always made clover necklaces with the flowers. I have met young ladies who have never made clover necklaces! The world needs to slow down and sit on a lawn for a while.  It is also classic to sit and look through the leaves to find a three-leaf clover because most of them are four-leaf. If you find a three-leaf clover, you are lucky because it is rare! Some consider this to be the original Irish Shamrock because when the rare fourth leaf happens, you have a "lucky" four-leaf clover.

2026

2006

I had to smile that I actually found some photos of some of the ones I consider weeds in my yard back in 2006! How fun is that though! I do see the heart shape here.