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Why Do Some Clovers Have Four Leaves?

The leaves of clover plants are said to hold the luck o' the Irish when they sport four leaves. This myth likely arose because four-leaf clovers are rare finds — the result of an equally rare genetic mutation in the clover plant.

There are about 300 species in the clover genus Trifolium, or trefoil, so named because the plants usually have three leaves, or technically, leaflets. The ones you typically find in North America are white clover (Trifolium repens).

Typically all clover plants feature leaves that have three leaflets on them — legend has it that St. Patrick used this so-called shamrock as the symbol of the Holy Trinity. But occasionally the genetics of the clover result in the rare four-leaflet variety, and sometimes even higher-numbered leaves.

"The 4-leaf (technically, 4-leaflet) and higher-leaflet variants are caused by rare genetic mutations," biologist Kenneth Olsen of Washington University in St. Louis told LiveScience.

According to the Web site of the Guinness Book of World Records, the most leaves ever found on a clover are 18. This many-leafed specimen was found by Shigeo Obara of Japan on May 25, 2002.

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Originally posted by Wild Shadow
mmm.. why not talk about human mutations rather then the pagan plant myth that insults god and has no place in his world?

for example:

an extra penis, a tail, an extra rib, born without certain organs like appendix...etc etc..

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Originally posted by Shakyamunison
But today is St. Patrick day.

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Originally posted by Shakyamunison
But today is St. Patrick day.

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Originally posted by Peach
Red hair is caused by a mutation.

So is lactose-tolerance.

So yeah

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Originally posted by Red Nemesis
I am a mutant and not a mutant, respectively.

sweet life.

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Originally posted by Shakyamunison
For all those who claim that mutations always lead to death, I have news for you. Mutations are lucky. If you read the short article below, you will see that a 4 leaf clover is a mutation. It seems that the clover plant doesn’t die when this mutation takes place. This is just another example of evolution at work.



http://www.livescience.com/mysterie...llm-100317.html

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Originally posted by Shakyamunison
For all those who claim that mutations always lead to death, I have news for you. Mutations are lucky. If you read the short article below, you will see that a 4 leaf clover is a mutation. It seems that the clover plant doesn’t die when this mutation takes place. This is just another example of evolution at work.



http://www.livescience.com/mysterie...llm-100317.html

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Originally posted by Thundar
mutations are not like death..death does not steam mutations.

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Originally posted by Ordo
You don't get mutation either...so that is not surprising.

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Originally posted by Ordo
"Mutations are lucky" is both scientifically and theoretically incorrect.

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Originally posted by Mindset
Tell that to the X-men.

They even got their own movie, I'd say that's pretty lucky.