Why Don’t More Clovers Have Four Leaves?

Why Don’t More Clovers Have Four Leaves?

With Saint Patrick’s Day just passed you may have been thinking about four-leaf clovers.  You might know they’re rare and considered good luck, but have you ever wondered why more clovers don’t have four leaves?  Learn about this below in our latest TrueTreeTalk blog post.

First, Four-Leaf Clovers Don’t Really Have Four Leaves

We know this sounds a little odd, but it just needs a little explanation.  When you look at a three or four-leaf clover, the things you are counting aren’t actually leaves, but instead leaflets.  Although leaflets look like leaves, they are really parts of compound leaves.  In a basic sense, leaflets together make up one leaf.  There is more to it than this, but this is the basic idea.  When you look at a three or four-leaf clover, what you are really looking at is one leaf with three or four leaflets.

Why Do Clovers Usually Have Three Leaflets Instead of Four?

Now that that’s cleared up, let’s get back to the main question.  Why do clovers usually have three leaflets instead of four?

First, although there are hundreds of clover species, the clover you might be used to seeing is white clover (Trifolium repens).  Think of what a clover looks like, and this is probably what you’re thinking of.

In usual circumstances, white clover has three leaflets (this is where the Trifolium part of the name comes from).  This comes from the DNA in the clover.  The DNA is such that, when things are normal, the clover has three leaflets.

How Do Clovers Get Four Leaflets?

The answer to this isn’t completely understood.  Like other things in nature, it appears to be influenced by both genetics and environmental factors.  Clover normally produces three leaflets.  When there is a mutation in the genetics of the plant and environmental conditions are right, it can produce four leaflets.  In rare instances, it can actually produce five, six, or even more.

Why are Four-Leaf (Leaflet) Clovers So Rare?

There are two basic reasons for this.

First, the genetic mutation responsible for clovers having four leaflets has to be present on all the chromosomes in the DNA of a clover plant for the clover to have four leaflets.  This is a rare occurrence.  If the mutation doesn’t appear on all the chromosomes, the clover won’t have four leaflets.

Second, just having the genetic mutation isn’t enough.  Environmental conditions have to be right too.  These can include things like the acidity of the soil and the temperature.  If these things aren’t right, then even if a clover plant had the mutation, it might not produce four leaflets.

Some say that the odds of finding a four-leaflet clover might be one in ten thousand.  Although this might just be an estimate, whatever the odds are, four-leaflet clovers are rare.  Clovers with more than four-leaflets are even rarer.  If you find one, although it might be a little cliche, consider yourself lucky.

If you liked reading this post about four-leaflet clovers, check out the other posts on our TrueTreeTalk blog.  We have ones about a variety of different topics.  You can follow us on Facebook to keep up with us and know when new posts come out.