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What were shamrocks and honeysuckles?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

March 22, 2002

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

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Shop Irish—>Click here. Send Irish E-Cards—>Click here. Celtic Gifts—>Click here.

Museum Store Company—>Click here.

Killer Picks: Major Wheeler Honeysuckle, Liriope, Irish Moss, Lily-of-the-Valley—>Click here.

Forget Me Not Ring : National Museum, Dublin Ireland Posey & Inscribed Ring—>Click here.

The shamrock sold by florists (Oxalis acetosella and other spp.) is not the shamrock of Ireland. In The Herbal (1633 ed.), Gerard wrote of five plants called the meadow trefoils. The first trefoil he called the Irish Shamrock (Trifolium pratense) saying, "...whereon do grow leaves consisting of three joined together..having for the most part in the midst a white spot like a halfe moon. The flowers grow on the tops of the stalkes in a tuft...of a purple color, and sweet of taste."

Shamrock Growing in an Ancient Oak Forest, County Kerry, Munster, Republic of Ireland Photographic Print Andrew Mcconnell
Buy Photographic Print at AllPosters.com

Shamrocks were used medicinally especially to treat the eyes, but Oxalis contains sharp oxalate crystals. Back then, the herbalists knew Oxalis could cause problems and possibly the loss of eyesight; they would never confuse the two.

Gerard mentions other names of the three leafed grass: "...in Low Dutch, Claveren: in French, Treffle...of some, Suckles, and Honi-suckles...." The common name, clover, we have taken from the Germanic languages; in Old English the plants were called clafre. The English trefoil and the French treffle probably both derived from the Latin trifolium or three leaves.

Before the days of pesticides, people would suck nectar from the red flowers giving clover the names of 'Suckles and Honi-suckles'. Three hundred and fifty years later, honeysuckles refer to the genus Lonicera, a medicinally useless plant to the English herbalists of old.

Nicholas Culpeper could never have anticipated the confusion when he wrote in the English Physitian (1652), "It is so well known, especially by the name of Honeysuckles, white and red, that I need not describe them."

Floral Images has great photographs of Oxalis acetosella, the wood-sorrel taken by J.R. Crellin. To view the photographs, click on the link:

http://www.floralimages.co.uk/poxaliaceto.htm

Botanischer Garten der Ruhr-Universität Bochum has a photograph of Trifolium pratense, red clover.

Click here to view the photograph

Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk has a photograph of Lonicera japonica, Japanese honeysuckle. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://www.hear.org/Pier/species/lonicera_japonica.htm

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

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Major Wheeler Honeysuckle

Springhill Nursery®

A favorite of hummingbirds! Blazing red and gold blooms appear all summer and into fall- months longer than most other honeysuckles. Fast-growing plants quickly reach 6-10’ in length just right for covering a fence post, arbor or trellis. Not bothered by the mildew that can plague other varieties.

Shipped in 3" pot. Deer tend to avoid. Zone 4 to 8

Lonicera sempervirens ‘Major Wheeler’ Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

[More Vines!] [Perennials!]

Liriope

Springhill Nursery®

An almost indestructible plant for stubborn areas. Liriope gracefully fills those spots where nothing else will grow. Large, pale lavender flower spikes bloom in late summer, rising above arching, evergreen tufts of grassy foliage.

Grows 12-15" tall. #1 divisions.

Liriope spicata

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Lily-of-the-Valley

Springhill Nursery®

Unforgettably fragrant! Clusters of dainty, white bells on 8-10" stems grace the garden in mid to late spring, and they make wonderful corsages. Lily-of-the-Valley’s thrive in the shade, where it spreads rapidly to create dense clumps of emerald foliage for an elegant summer ground cover. Remarkably long-lived. Space 6-12" apart.

#1 field-grown plant. Deer tend to avoid.

Convallaria majalis Zone 2 to 8 Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

[More Perennials!]

Irish Moss

Springhill Nursery®

No other plant covers troublesome bare spots so well.

Low-growing Irish moss is ideal for filling in crevices between bricks or stepping-stones. Tiny leaves form dainty, densely matted, moss-like clumps 2-4" high spread quickly, take foot traffic and seldom need clipping.

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[More Ground Covers!]

Forget Me Not Ring :
National Museum, Dublin Ireland Posey & Inscribed Ring

Museum Store Company®

Forget Me Not ring inspired by the 16th century poesy ring design which is located in the National Museum, Dublin Ireland.

Sterling, Sizes 6-10, please specify in order comments
Click here.