Latest Gardening Forum Topics:

  • Gardening Tips - How to Build and Maintain A Garden (1 post)
  • 5 Rose Garden Ideas (1 post)
  • Help with plant identification (1 post)
  • Can I use swimming pool water for my garden? (9 posts)
  • what are shrooms? (17 posts)
  • What are some good hiding places for weed and money? (10 posts)
  • How to get rid of gnats that are on my orchid? (5 posts)
  • where can i buy the sampaguita flower( jasminum sambac)i am located in florida? (2 posts)
  • What are some plants/flowers that are bee-friendly and would look awesome in a garden? (5 posts)
  • where can i find a yew tree in Houston? I need to take pictures for my anthropology Class Final.? (3 posts)
  • Can I spead lawn fertilizer with my hands (in gloves) or do I need equipment? (7 posts)
  • Am I over watering my plant or is there something else wrong? (6 posts)
  • my 2 yr. old snowball bush only has 3 flowers so far this year. what am I doing wrong? (5 posts)
  • Will my Hydrangea survive? (6 posts)
  • Some botanists argue that the entire plant should be considered as a single unit rather than a composite of ma (2 posts)
  •  
    Author Message

    JuicyFruit

    Members


    Online status

    109 posts

    Location: Syria
    Occupation: Archer
    Age:

    #64924   2008-05-19 00:18 GMT      
    I've posted this question in a different section before, but I wasn't satisfied with the number of answers I received. Therefore, I'm seeing what you science people think! :-)

    Anyway, just a few days ago I found a 5-leaf clover, and it didn't even take me long to find it. My question is: Is it truly unusual to find a clover that has more than 3 leaves, or is this just a myth? In other words, are there more such clovers out there than previously assumed?

    Perhaps such clovers aren't as hard to come by as previously assumed. Perhaps there are certain species of clovers which have a higher likelihood of having more than 3 leaves. Perhaps the clover weed is evolving (4 or 5 leaves are, after all, more advantageous than 3, as they can catch more sunlight) or perhaps it is because of certain toxins contained in the earth which cause mutations. I just don't know. What's your opinion?

    Goldfish

    Members


    Online status

    120 posts

    Location: North Korea
    Occupation: Artist
    Age:

    #64925   2008-05-19 01:22 GMT      
    From everything I've read, finding a clover with 4, 5 or even more leaves is not at all a rare thing. As you've guessed, there's nothing special about any particular number of leaves in a clover, but (as an evolutionary biologist, at that) I doubt very much that the clover is evolving for increased leaf number at the present time.

    BlueBreakfast

    Members


    Online status

    110 posts

    Location: San Marino
    Occupation: Therapist
    Age:

    #64926   2008-05-20 03:42 GMT      
    It's not so strange.
    > 1 <