werner@aecom.yu.edu (Craig Werner) (06/29/89)
Today I found a 4 leaf clover while walking off a softball field.
While this is the fifth four leaf clover I have ever seen in my lifetime,
this is the first one that I have ever found on my own (as opposed to
someone who I was with first noticing it).
Being a biologist (but not a botanist), certain questions came to
mind after the initial mystique wore off. Is the tendency to four-leaf'ness
genetically controlled? Does it breed true, and if so is it dominant or
recessive? Or is the extra leaf a developmental rarity, not reflected in
the genetic makeup of the plant?
--
Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 4.5 years down, 2.5 to go)
werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine
(1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517)
"..pursuing Dharma, Artha, and Kama (although not nearly enough of the last)."toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) (07/07/89)
In article <2324@aecom.yu.edu> werner@aecom.yu.edu (Craig Werner) writes: > Today I found a 4 leaf clover while walking off a softball field. >While this is the fifth four leaf clover I have ever seen in my lifetime, >this is the first one that I have ever found on my own (as opposed to >someone who I was with first noticing it). > Being a biologist (but not a botanist), certain questions came to >mind after the initial mystique wore off. Is the tendency to four-leaf'ness >genetically controlled? Does it breed true, and if so is it dominant or >recessive? Or is the extra leaf a developmental rarity, not reflected in >the genetic makeup of the plant? > Craig Werner (future MD/PhD, 4.5 years down, 2.5 to go) > werner@aecom.YU.EDU -- Albert Einstein College of Medicine > (1935-14E Eastchester Rd., Bronx NY 10461, 212-931-2517) A friend of mine has the knack of finding lots of 4 leaf clovers. When we were at Cape May a few weeks ago she suddenly reached down to pluck a 4 leaf clover. So I looked in the place she had found it, and found a 5 leaf one! I uprooted the plant, took it home and treated it nicely. So far it has been producing 3 leaf clovers ... darn! :-) Finding 4 leaf clovers seems to be more a matter of being prepared for the observation than luck, since then I have found several more (and so has she). Tom Schneider National Cancer Institute Laboratory of Mathematical Biology Frederick, Maryland 21701-1013 toms@ncifcrf.gov
arrom@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu (Ken Arromdee) (07/07/89)
> Today I found a 4 leaf clover while walking off a softball field. >While this is the fifth four leaf clover I have ever seen in my lifetime, >this is the first one that I have ever found on my own (as opposed to >someone who I was with first noticing it). What a coincidence. I found one last week. (It's still lying there, dried, on top of my television set...) This was growing on a clover plant the rest of whose clovers were all 3 leaved. (Red clover, I think, if I remember my clovers correctly.) Upon closer inspection, I noticed that all 4 leaves weren't _quite_ at the same spot; two grew out of one spot on the stem, and a third went out for a millimeter or two before branching out into two leaf stems and providing the other two leaves. As a kid I remember this patch where I would always find them; sometimes they would even have 5 or 6 leaves, but never more (I don't _think_). So I would guess that they are caused when something causes one of the leaves to branch into two. (Insert appropriate technical terms for leaves, leaflets, leaf stems, etc... where I might have misused them.) -- "The fact is self evident from the text and requires no supporting argument." --Tim Maroney Kenneth Arromdee (UUCP: ....!jhunix!ins_akaa; BITNET: g49i0188@jhuvm; INTERNET: arromdee@crabcake.cs.jhu.edu) (please, no mail to arrom@aplcen)
kja@cbnewsd.ATT.COM (krista.j.anderson) (07/08/89)
<>
Well, I'm a four-leaf clover finder myself. My father told me
that his father was able to find a four-leaf clover in any clover
patch, so I determined to acquire the skill myself and so did my
sister Judy.
It's easy to learn for a kid, but may not be worth it for an
adult, but all you have to do is train your mind to spot the
four-leaf ones out of all the others at a glance from a standing
or walking position. Then you can usually find at least one in
each clover patch, but not always. You can kneel down at a patch
and gently sweep your hand across the clovers and find them that
way too.
Of the 100s that I've found, my four-leaf clovers were often
irregular in that one leaf would be smaller than the others, or
the stem of one leaf would be coming out of the stem of another
leaf. It's pretty common to see one leaf starting out and then
splitting into two whole or partial leaves. We used to call those
three and half leafers. There are four and half leafers too.
I'm sure there's a gene for the phenomenon and I'm sure it's
recessive. Judy and I discovered a few patches on my parents'
property that had many, many four-leaf clovers. In these
particular patches, there were also several five-leaf clovers,
four and a half leaf clovers and, very rarely, six-leaf clovers.
That's why I think there must be a gene for a general mutation of
multiple leaf or stem growth.
Anyway, on these special patches, we picked as many
non-three-leaf clovers as we could find, leaving just a few to
breed between mowings. But guess what. The patches weren't
special after that and just grew three-leaf clovers like the other
ones. That's why I think the gene is recessive.
It kind of reminds me of a meadow that Judy and I found in the
woods along a little stream one Spring. It was moist spongy
ground about 9' by 6' and some thick, dark, grassy stuff grew on
it. We visited it several times. However, in subsequent years,
we were unable to find it again. There were no meadows along the
stream, only brush and deciduous forest weed type stuff. Of
course, this is not a case of a recessive gene, but of an
inability to compete with hardier weeds. But some phenomenon must
have permitted the lush grass to be the winner for just that one
Spring.
P.S. I'm not very lucky and never win contests. :-)
--
Krista A.glasscoc@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (John Glasscock) (07/09/89)
In article <1080@fcs280s.ncifcrf.gov> toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) writes: > >A friend of mine has the knack of finding lots of 4 leaf clovers. When we were >at Cape May a few weeks ago she suddenly reached down to pluck a 4 leaf >clover. So I looked in the place she had found it, and found a 5 leaf one! I >uprooted the plant, took it home and treated it nicely. So far it has been >producing 3 leaf clovers ... darn! :-) > > Tom Schneider > National Cancer Institute > Laboratory of Mathematical Biology > Frederick, Maryland 21701-1013 > toms@ncifcrf.gov Talk about killing the goose that lays the golden egg! Well at least you treated it nicely. I think it is extemely interesting to find out through mapping if certain areas have a greater proportion of 4-leaf clovers. Perhaps someone could volunteer to collect reports from the ;net regarding where the clovers lhave been found and increment each occurrence. Then, post the findings on the net. John Glasscock Indiana University glasscoc@silver.bacs.indiana.edu Bloomington, Indiana
li@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Siufai Li) (07/10/89)
Not being much of a botanist, I wonder if it is possible to produce a 4-leave clover by splitting a leave from a 3-leaver. Could the clover repair the two halves to two whole leaves? Of course... one couldn't pass this on, by it would explain the 5-leaver found by Tom. Siu Fai
toms@ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) (07/10/89)
... Yesterday I noticed that my 5 leafer has produced a 4 leaf clover! This may be a hint of a genetic or somatic component. It would be interesting to map and clone the mutant and wild-type genes if it's genetic! Today I sweep my eyes across a field of clover as I was walking along and saw a 4 leaf clover. This seems to be the best way to find them, just relax and let the brain do the trick as you walk along, the way Krista Anderson suggests. So I brought that one home and I'm treating it nicely... :-) or rather ::-) Tom
vernak@tekcrl.LABS.TEK.COM (Verna Knapp) (07/10/89)
In article <23097@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> glasscoc@silver.bacs.indiana.edu (John Glasscock) writes: >you treated it nicely. I think it is extemely interesting to find out >through mapping if certain areas have a greater proportion of 4-leaf >clovers. Perhaps someone could volunteer to collect reports from the ;net >regarding where the clovers lhave been found and increment each occurrence. >Then, post the findings on the net. >John Glasscock Indiana University I noticed in childhood that the best place to search for 4-leaf clovers was along heavily traveled roads. This was before unleaded gasoline. I suspected at the time that it was a developmental phenomenon, caused by road fumes or heat from the pavement. Over the years I have become more convinced of this as a result of observation. Verna Knapp vernak@tekchips.labs.tek.com