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Four-leaf clover
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Four-leaf clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare mutation of the common three-leaf clover that has four leaflets instead of three. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, a belief that dates back to at least the 17th century.
The term four-leaf is botanically a misnomer, as cloverplants have multiple leaves (multiple clovers), each consisting of a varying number of leaflets, typically three.
A 2017 survey of approximately 5.7 million clovers in six European countries found the frequency of 4-leaf clovers to be around 5000 to 1 (one 4-leaf clover for every 5076 normal 3-leaf clovers), almost twice the commonly stated probability of 10,000 to 1. According to this survey, the frequency of a 5-leaf clover is 24,390 to 1, and that of a 6-leaf clover is 312,500 to 1.
According to Guinness World Records, the clover with the most leaflets ever found had 63 of them, and was discovered by Yoshiharu Watanabe of Nasushiobara city, Tochigi prefecture, Japan, on 2 August 2023. The clover was from the species Trifolium repens L., or the white clover; beating the previous record, a 56-leaf clover (of the same species) found by Shigeo Obara of Hanamaki city, Iwate prefecture, Japan, on 10 May 2009. Both men obtained clovers with such a number of leafleats through crossbreeding clover plants with a high rate of clovers with an abnormal number of leaflets, causing that, on average, cloverplants generated clovers with a higher and higher number of leaflets in each generation. Shigeo Obara used the method of natural crossbreeding, while Yoshiharu Watanabe used both natural crossbreeding and manual crossbreeding.
In 2019, American Gabriella Gerhardt set the record for collecting the most 4-leaf clovers in one hour by an individual (451). Previously, in 2018, she set the record for finding the most 4-leaf clovers in eight hours by an individual (887). On January 1, 2023, she certified two more records: the largest collection of 6-leaf clovers (1,437, surpassing the previous record of 43) and the largest collection of 7-leaf clovers (209, surpassing the previous record of 17). In 2023, she broke the record for the largest collection of 4-leaf clovers with 118,791, exceeding the previous record of 111,060 held by American Edward Martin. In total Gabriella Gerhardt holds five Guinness World Records.
As stated, clovers can have more than four leaflets. 5-leaf clovers are less commonly found naturally than 4-leaf clovers; however, they too have been successfully cultivated. Some 4-leaf clover collectors, particularly in Ireland, regard the 5-leaf clover, known as a rose clover, as a particular prize.
It is debated whether the fourth leaflet is caused genetically or environmentally. Its relative rarity (1 in ~5,000 clovers) suggests a possible recessive gene appearing at a low frequency. Alternatively, four-leaf clovers could be caused by somatic mutation or a developmental error of environmental causes. They could also be caused by the interaction of several genes that happen to segregate in the individual plant. It is possible all four explanations could apply to individual cases. This means that multiple four-leaf clovers could be found in the same cloverplant, and a cloverplant that already has a clover with an abnormal number of leaflets has a higher chance of growing or having another abnormal clover than a cloverplant that doesn't have any.
Researchers from the University of Georgia have reported finding the gene that turns ordinary three-leaf clovers into the coveted four-leaf types. Masked by the three-leaf gene and strongly influenced by environmental conditions, molecular markers now make it possible to detect the presence of the gene for four-leaves and for breeders to work with it. The results of the study, which also located two other leaf traits in the white-clover genome, were reported in the July/August 2010 edition of Crop Science, published by the Crop Science Society of America.
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Four-leaf clover
The four-leaf clover is a rare mutation of the common three-leaf clover that has four leaflets instead of three. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck, a belief that dates back to at least the 17th century.
The term four-leaf is botanically a misnomer, as cloverplants have multiple leaves (multiple clovers), each consisting of a varying number of leaflets, typically three.
A 2017 survey of approximately 5.7 million clovers in six European countries found the frequency of 4-leaf clovers to be around 5000 to 1 (one 4-leaf clover for every 5076 normal 3-leaf clovers), almost twice the commonly stated probability of 10,000 to 1. According to this survey, the frequency of a 5-leaf clover is 24,390 to 1, and that of a 6-leaf clover is 312,500 to 1.
According to Guinness World Records, the clover with the most leaflets ever found had 63 of them, and was discovered by Yoshiharu Watanabe of Nasushiobara city, Tochigi prefecture, Japan, on 2 August 2023. The clover was from the species Trifolium repens L., or the white clover; beating the previous record, a 56-leaf clover (of the same species) found by Shigeo Obara of Hanamaki city, Iwate prefecture, Japan, on 10 May 2009. Both men obtained clovers with such a number of leafleats through crossbreeding clover plants with a high rate of clovers with an abnormal number of leaflets, causing that, on average, cloverplants generated clovers with a higher and higher number of leaflets in each generation. Shigeo Obara used the method of natural crossbreeding, while Yoshiharu Watanabe used both natural crossbreeding and manual crossbreeding.
In 2019, American Gabriella Gerhardt set the record for collecting the most 4-leaf clovers in one hour by an individual (451). Previously, in 2018, she set the record for finding the most 4-leaf clovers in eight hours by an individual (887). On January 1, 2023, she certified two more records: the largest collection of 6-leaf clovers (1,437, surpassing the previous record of 43) and the largest collection of 7-leaf clovers (209, surpassing the previous record of 17). In 2023, she broke the record for the largest collection of 4-leaf clovers with 118,791, exceeding the previous record of 111,060 held by American Edward Martin. In total Gabriella Gerhardt holds five Guinness World Records.
As stated, clovers can have more than four leaflets. 5-leaf clovers are less commonly found naturally than 4-leaf clovers; however, they too have been successfully cultivated. Some 4-leaf clover collectors, particularly in Ireland, regard the 5-leaf clover, known as a rose clover, as a particular prize.
It is debated whether the fourth leaflet is caused genetically or environmentally. Its relative rarity (1 in ~5,000 clovers) suggests a possible recessive gene appearing at a low frequency. Alternatively, four-leaf clovers could be caused by somatic mutation or a developmental error of environmental causes. They could also be caused by the interaction of several genes that happen to segregate in the individual plant. It is possible all four explanations could apply to individual cases. This means that multiple four-leaf clovers could be found in the same cloverplant, and a cloverplant that already has a clover with an abnormal number of leaflets has a higher chance of growing or having another abnormal clover than a cloverplant that doesn't have any.
Researchers from the University of Georgia have reported finding the gene that turns ordinary three-leaf clovers into the coveted four-leaf types. Masked by the three-leaf gene and strongly influenced by environmental conditions, molecular markers now make it possible to detect the presence of the gene for four-leaves and for breeders to work with it. The results of the study, which also located two other leaf traits in the white-clover genome, were reported in the July/August 2010 edition of Crop Science, published by the Crop Science Society of America.
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