History of the 4-leaf clover and St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the day that St. Patrick died in 461. St. Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland since he is credited for introducing Christianity to the island. Even though St. Patrick died in the 5th century, it wasn't until the 9th or 10th century where it gained recognition in the Roman Catholic Church as a feast day. In the today's culture, the day is recognized by symbols of shamrocks and leprechauns and celebrated with parades and everything green. Shamrock is derived from a Gaelic word meaning little clover. Clovers are a common plant species in Ireland and their leaves are the national symbol of the country. Most clover leaves consist of three leaflets, so why the big deal about a four-leaf clover. Well, to put it simply, they are rare. The history of the four-leaf clover as a good luck charm dates back to 1620, when Sir John Melton wrote, "That if a man walking in the fields, finds any four-leaf grass, he shall in a small while after find some good thing." In the cultural life of early people, white clover was in high esteem by the Celts of Wales as good luck against evil spirits. The Druids also held the four-leaf clover in high esteem, a sign of luck. Then, and now, the leaves of the four-leaf clover symbolize hope, faith, love and luck. In the Irish tradition, the shamrock, or the three-leaf clover, represents the holy trinity. One leaf for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit. When a shamrock is found with the fourth leaf, it represents God's grace. Four-leaf clovers are hard to find. If you find one, you are lucky! They are a variation of the more commonly found three-leaf white clover (Trifolium repens). Researchers from the University of Georgia believe a combination of genes and environment makes them sprout an extra leaf. While we are being scientific, botanist would inform us that more correct term should be a four-leaflet or three-leaflet clover leaf since each leaflet does not connect directly to the main stem. Agronomist would describe clover as a leguminous plant with trifoliate leaves. Leguminous would tell you that it has the ability to produce nitrogen and would not need nitrogen fertilizer and trifoliate would tell you that the leaf consists of three leaflike structures. The four-leaf clover genes can also produce more leaves. According to Guinness World Records, the most leaves on a white clover stem is 56, discovered in Japan in 2009. In August 2023, a gardener in Japan, Yoshiharu Watanabe, beat the previous record with a 63-leaf clover. Watanabe let some clover pollinate naturally in the air and pollinated some by hand. This technique, called cross-pollination, allowed the creation of a clover with the most leaves. Watanabe discovered that the soil needed to be well-fertilized with phosphate and a plant hormone called auxin. The combination of these two played an essential role in developing clovers with more than four leaflets (within ten days). Selecting seeds from a cultivar that often produced four leaflets, Watanabe doubled the regular dose of phosphate fertilizer and added auxin to the water. Other plant species have leaves that resemble the shamrock leaf that are bought and sold just before St. Partrick's Day. They are called "fake clovers" because they can be mistaken as clover. These would include Wood Sorrel (Oxalis tetraphylla), Water Clover (Marsilea quadrifolia), Black Medic (Medicago lupulina), Spotted Deadnettle (Lamium maculatum), Shamrock Plant (Oxalis regnellii), and Winged Clover (Pleurolobus gangeticus). A plant from the clover group would have Trifolium as its genus name. In summary, it is rare to find a four-leaf clover. Your chances of finding a four-leaf clover are better in early spring and in an open fields or waste areas as many lawns have been treated with a broadleaf herbicide, which would kill clover. If you enjoy learning about plants, whether it's house plants, trees, shrubs, vegetable gardening or anything related to gardening, attend one of the Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteers educational seminars. The next seminar will be on Saturday, March 29. Joe Puperi, an ISA Board Certified Arborist, Commercialized Pesticide Applicator and business owner of Advanced Tree Health, will speak on how to successfully grow a tree in your landscape — proper selection, planting and maintenance. The seminar is from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the Hancock County Agriculture Service Center. This seminar is free and open to the public. Call the Hancock County Extension Office at 419-422-3851 to register for this event, as seating is limited. Rebecca Sherrard is an Ohio State University Extension — Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteer. Find the group on Facebook at "Hancock County Master Gardener Volunteers."