A four-leaf clover is a variation of common three-leaf clover which is rare to find, if you know the traditional saying they are considered to be lucky for you as they carry good fortune. Now it is not known when this tradition started of considering the four-leaf clover a fortune holder. But this is for sure an old-time tradition of which we can find the mention by Sir John Melton in 1620 saying, “if a man walking in the fields finds any four-leafed grass, he shall in a small while find some good thing.”
How rare are four-leaf clovers?
The chances of you finding a four-leaf clover are pretty rare; some say it’s one in thousand and that’s what makes it so special. I will tell you about the survey in central Europe held in 2017 of approximately 5.7 million clovers found to be 5,000 to 1. In the survey they also found five and six leaf clovers whose probability to be found was 24,400 to 1 and 312,500 to 1, respectively. Rare things are always special and probably that’s the reason it is associated with luck and fortune. Does this mean a five-leaf clover will be more fortunate? what do you think?🤔
In Ireland a five-leaf clover is regarded as a particular prize and is known as rose clover.
Collecting four leaf clovers is a hobby of people in some parts which has contributed to some amazing records, for instance, collectors have reached a record of collecting 160,000 four leaf clovers in a lifetime. There is also a record of collecting 166 clovers in only one hour which was set by Katie Borka, an American in 2018, June 23. Pretty fascinating, right?😁
Why are four-leaf clovers so rare?
It is debated over whether the four-leaf clover is caused genetically or environmentally. Because of its rarity, the possibility is that it is due to a recessive gene that birthing to four-leaf clover at a lower frequency.
University of Georgia claims to have found the gene that turns ordinary three-leaf clovers into the coveted four-leaf types. There are also reports of farms in the US which cultivates specially, four-leaf clovers, producing as many as 10,000 a day with the help of genetically engineered ingredients for the plant. I guess luck isn’t so rare these days!😍
Why are four-leaf clovers considered lucky?
It is not possible to trace back when this legend exactly started but we do find old references of these clovers being lucky apart from mention by Sir John Melton, in a letter from 1877 to St. Nicholas Magazine a girl writes, “Did the fairies ever whisper in your ear, that a four-leaf clover brought good luck to the finder?”
Four-leaf clovers aren’t shamrock
Don’t confuse yourself with believing that four-leaf clovers are the symbol for Ireland. It is believed that St. Patrick, one of Ireland’s patron saints, used a shamrock (three-leaf clover) as the symbol to represent the metaphor for the holy trinity.
From that perspective a four-leaf clover represents a generic luck while the three-leaf clover is a religious symbol.
Hope you enjoyed learning about these clovers, I wish for my readers to find their four-leaf clovers too. Thank you for being our faithful readers😚
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