CARROLLTON, Mo. – If a leprechaun leaps from the faerie den this St. Patrick’s Day to ask if you know a shamrock from a clover, what will you answer?

“If you said the shamrock is a clover, you’re in luck,” says University of Missouri Extension field horticulturist Kathi Mecham.

In short, all shamrocks are clovers, but not all clovers are shamrocks.

The word shamrock comes from the Gaelic word semróg, which translates to “little clover.” Shamrocks are the most common and recognizable symbols of Ireland.