Though native to Spain, Saint Patrick’s cabbage (Saxifrage umbrosa) is
found in the mountains of west Ireland as well, for which reason it is
named for St. Patrick, archbishop of Armagh, the apostle of Ireland. This
ornamental with crimson-spotted petals is also known as London Pride. St.
Patrick is said to be responsible for the shamrock being the Irish
national emblem. When captured by a pagan ruler while preaching in the
country he plucked a shamrock and explained that its three leaves were
distinct and separate on the plant, “just as the Trinity is the union of
three distinct persons in One Deity.”