Four-leaf clover

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other plants informally known as "four-leaf clover" and other uses, see Four-leaf clover (disambiguation).

Four-leaf white clover (Trifolium repens).

The four-leaf clover is a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover. According to traditional sayings, such clovers bring good luck,[1] though it is not clear when or how this idea began. One early mention of "Fower-leafed or purple grasse" is from 1640 and simply says that it was kept in gardens because it was "good for the purples in children or others".[2]

Occurrence

A 2017 survey of approximately 5.7 million clovers in central Europe found the frequency to be about 5000 to 1 (one four-leaf clover for every ~5000 normal three-leaf clovers), twice the commonly stated probability of 10,000 to 1. According to this survey, the frequency of a five-leaf clover is ~24,400 to 1, and of a six-leaf clover is ~312,500 to 1.[3]

Clovers can have more than four leaves. Five-leaf clovers are less commonly found naturally than four-leaf clovers;[4][5] however, they, too, have been successfully cultivated.[6] Some four-leaf clover collectors, particularly in Ireland, regard the five-leaf clover, known as a rose clover, as a particular prize.[7] The most leaves ever found on a single clover stem (Trifolium repens L.) is 56 and was discovered by Shigeo Obara of Hanamaki, Iwate, Japan, on 10 May 2009.[8][9]

Collectors have reached records as high as 160,000 four-leaf clovers in a lifetime.[10] The world record for number of four-leaf clovers collected in one hour is 166, set by American Katie Borka on June 23, 2018.[11]

Cause

A four-leaf clover amongst others with three leaves

It is debated whether the fourth leaf is caused genetically or environmentally. Its relative rarity (1 in 5,000 clovers

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.[12]

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.[13]

The other leaf traits, the red fleck mark and red midrib, a herringbone pattern that streaks down the center of each leaflet in a bold red color, were mapped to nearby locations, resolving a century-old question as to whether these leaf traits were controlled by one gene or two separate genes.

White clover has many genes that affect leaf color and shape, and the three in the study were very rare. These traits can be quite attractive, particularly if combined with others, and can turn clover into an ornamental plant for use in flower beds.[14]

There are reports of farms in the US which specialize in four-leaf clovers, producing as many as 10,000 a day (to be sealed in plastic as "lucky charms") by introducing a genetically engineered ingredient to the plants to encourage the aberration (there are, however, widely available cultivars that regularly produce leaves with multiple leaflets – see below).[15]

Multi-leaved cultivars

A five-leaf Trifolium repens

There are some cultivars of white clover (Trifolium repens) which regularly produce more than three leaflets, including purple-leaved T. repens "Purpurascens Quadrifolium" and green-leaved T. repens "Quadrifolium".[16] Some clovers have more spade-shaped leaves, rather than the usual rounded ones. This may be a genetic mutation. Some genetic mutations in clovers include spade-like shaped leaves or a dotted rusty color on the leaves.

Trifolium repens "Good Luck" is a cultivar which has three, four, or five green, dark-centered leaflets per leaf.[17]

Other species

Other plants may be mistaken for, or misleadingly sold as, "four-leaf clovers"; for example,

wood sorrel with leaves resembling a four-leaf clover.[18][19] Other species that have been sold as "four-leaf clovers" include Marsilea quadrifolia.[20][21]

As a good luck charm

A description from 1869 says that four-leaf clovers were "gathered at night-time during the full moon by sorceresses, who mixed it with

vervain and other ingredients, while young girls in search of a token of perfect happiness made quest of the plant by day".[22]

In an 1877 letter to

St. Nicholas Magazine, an 11-year-old girl wrote, "Did the fairies ever whisper in your ear, that a four-leaf clover brought good luck to the finder?"[23]

Symbolic usage

Four-leaf clover pictured in the coat of arms of Lääne-Nigula Parish
The Four leaf clover is used as a symbol by multiple agrarian political parties in Northern and Eastern Europe
  • Italian automobile maker Alfa Romeo uses a quadrifoglio (four-leaf clover) icon to delineate its racing cars and performance-oriented road models. This tradition started in the 1923 Targa Florio race, when driver Ugo Sivocci decorated his car with a green clover on a white background.[citation needed] As of 2022, the quadrifoglio is used on the company's race liveries.[24]
  • Los Angeles-based space exploration company SpaceX includes a four-leaf clover on each space mission embroidered patch as a good luck charm. Inclusion of the clover has become a regular icon on SpaceX's flight patches ever since the company's first successful Falcon 1 rocket launch in 2008, which was the first mission to feature a clover "for luck" on its patch.[25]
  • Glasgow, Scotland
    , have used the four leaf clover as the club's official badge for over 40 years.
  • Former Japanese game developer studio Clover Studio used a four-leaf clover as their logo.
  • Several businesses and organizations use a four-leaf clover in their logos to signify Celtic origins.[26][27][28]
  • The global network of youth organizations 4-H uses a green four-leaf clover with a white H on each leaf.[29]
  • The logo of the New Jersey Lottery features an outline of the state in white on a green four-leaf clover printed on a lottery draw machine ball.
  • The English-language imageboard 4chan features a four-leaf clover in its logo as a nod to its predecessor, the Japanese site Futaba Channel (2chan), whose name means two leaves, leading 4chan to be referred to in Japan as yotsuba, meaning four leaves.
  • Traditional symbol of agrarian parties popularized by Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants, Bulgarian Agrarian National Union, People's Party and International Agrarian Bureau in interwar period. Used until today among others by Polish People's Party, Estonian Centre Party and Nordic agrarian parties.
  • In Japan, the Green Cars of Shinkansen use a four-leaf clover logo.
  • Jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels the Alhambra lines feature motifs of four-leaf clover.[30]

Meanings

Some folk traditions assign a different attribute to each leaf of a clover. The leaves have been used by Christians to represent hope, faith, love and luck.

better source needed
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Four-leaf clover.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 9781101442814
    .
  2. ^ Parkinson J. 1640. Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants or An Herball of Large Extent. Tho. Cotes. Publisher, London, Pp 1110-1112.
  3. ^ a b Sperling, Uli (24 July 2017). "How rare are four-leaf clovers really?". Share the Luck. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020.
  4. ^ Hershey, David (16 March 2000). "Re: how common is a five leaf clover?". MadSci Network.
  5. ^ "Facts About Five-leaf Clovers". Clovers Online. Clover Specialty Company. 2004. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008.
  6. ^ "Five-leaf clover". Mt. Vernon Register-News. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012.
  7. BSBI
    News, 56, 1990)
  8. ^ "Most leaves on a clover". Guinness World Records. 10 May 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  9. National Geographic. 12 May 2009. Archived from the original
    on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  10. ^ George, Jason (17 March 2008). "160,000? That's a lot of luck". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  11. The Free Lance-Star
    .
  12. ^ Marcel Cleene, Marie Claire Lejeune (2002). Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe: Herbs. Vol. 2. Man & Culture.
  13. ^ Tashiro, R.M., et al. Leaf Trait Coloration in White Clover and Molecular Mapping of the Red Midrib and Leaflet Number Traits. Crop Science 7 June 2010.
  14. ^ [1] The Georgia White Clover Ornamental Collection.
  15. ^ Mabey, Richard, Ibid, p. 225
  16. ISBN 1-4053-1455-9
  17. ^ Killerplants.com Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine (photo)
  18. Amazon
    review. 12 September 2006.
  19. ^ Good Luck Plant Kit Archived 2008-12-27 at the Wayback Machine. FourLeafClover.com. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  20. ^ All About Shamrocks Four-Leaf Clovers Archived 2008-12-14 at the Wayback Machine. LollySmith.com. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  21. ^ Keenan, Susan M. The Four Leaf Clover Archived 2009-01-30 at the Wayback Machine. HotFact.com. 11 March 2008.
  22. ^ Masters MT. 1869. Vegetable Teratology, An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants. Robert Hardwicke Publisher, London, P 356.
  23. ^ Child, Madge. 1877. In a letter titled "Four-Leaved Clovers," (St. Nicholas; an Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks), Volume 4, pp. 634-5, in the subsection of letters called "Jack-in-the-Pulpit", July 1877.
  24. ^ "The Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN. C42 is born". Alfa Romeo. 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  25. ^ "SpaceX's 3rd Space Station Resupply Flight Gets 3-Sided Mission Patch". space.com. Retrieved 23 February 2015
  26. ^ "Clover Park School District Homepage". www.cloverpark.k12.wa.us.
  27. ^ "Clover Pub - European Pub". cloverpub.com.br.
  28. ^ "Celtic Computers | Laptop & PC Computer Repair". www.celtic-computers.co.uk.
  29. ^ "Elsie Carper Collection on Extension Service, Home Economics, and 4-H". usda.gov. Retrieved 11 March 2016
  30. ^ "How Van Cleef & Arpels Got Its Four-Leaf Clover | Barnebys Magazine". Barnebys.com. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  31. ISBN 9780738725611
    . Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  32. ^ Grauschopf, Sandra (20 November 2019). "11 Juicy Facts About Four-Leaf Clovers". thebalanceeveryday.com.
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